PAPERS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN EXPEDITION 
NUMBER TWO 


PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


& 


Courtesy Wesley Bradfield 


MARIA MARTINEZ 
The most skillful potter of San Ildefonso. 


DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY 
PHILLIPS ACADEMY - ANDOVER + MASSACHUSETTS 


PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


A STUDY AT THE VILLAGE OF SAN ILDEFONSO 


BY 


CARL E. GUTHE 


LecSPon\ 


NEW HAVEN 


PUBLISHED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY 
PHILLIPS ACADEMY - ANDOVER - MASSACHUSETTS 
BY THE YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 


1925 


COPYRIGHTED 1925 BY YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
BY THE ANDOVER PRESS , 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION : : : : : 3 : 
Raw MarTeriaAzts; COLLECTION AND PREPARATION... 
INGREDIENTS 
Rep cuay. : 
WHITE CLAY... : ; ; . : 
TEMPER : 
COOKING VESSEL CLAY 
SLIPS AND PAINTS 
NATIVE SLIP : 
Santo DoMINGO SLIP. 
Rep SLIP 
ORANGE-RED SLIP 
BLACK WARE PAINT 
Buack or GUACO PAINT 
FUEL 
MANURE 
KINDLING. : : : ; : : 
PARAPHERNALIA ; . 
PRIMARY PARAPHERNALIA. 
Mou.tps 
MOowvLpDING SPOONS 
SCRAPERS 
POLISHING STONES 
PAINT BRUSHES 
SECONDARY PARAPHERNALIA : : 
CARRYING AND STORING RECEPTACLES . 
MIXING SURFACES 
Boarps 
WATER CONTAINERS 
Mors : 
PAINT RECEPTACLES . : ; : ; 
WIPING-RAGS_. : : : oi “ 
FIRING ACCESSORIES 
Movu.Lpinc . F : 2 : : ‘ : 
BowLs 
OLuas... : : ; : f ; 5 
COOKING-VESSELS . ! ; : : : 
PRAYER-MEAL BOWLS : é : ‘ 
DOUBLE-MOUTHED VASES 
HANDLES : : ; : : : ; 


vill PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


PAGE 

Sun-DRYING . : . . ; : : ' ; : : : ; 52 
SCRAPING : ‘ ; ; ; : : , : ; : : , 54 
SLIPPING AND POLISHING : ; F : 4 , : ; 57 
WHITE SLIP. ‘ : ; : , : ; ; ; ; ; 57 
ORANGE-RED SLIP. : ; ; ; } ; ; ' ; : 59 
Rep sLip : : : : : : : d ; : 59 
DARK-RED SLIP ; ‘ : : ; < : : : E 62 
PAINTING . Z ; : : : ; : ’ : ; ; ? 66 
FIRING . 5 : : E . : ? ; é ‘ : : 70 
PREPARATION : ; : : : : : : : : 70 
BUILDING THE OVEN : ; ; , : : : ? 70 
BURNING ; : 7 : ; ‘ ; i 3 : : fee 
ACCIDENTS. A ; z : ; : ; ‘ : :. ‘ 76 
TREATMENT AFTER BURNING : : : aT 
PAINTING OF DESIGNS . ‘ : ; ? ; : 78 
SYMBOLISM . < : : : 85 


BIBLIOGRAPHY . } : ; : ; 89 


ae as gaa el oe i 


a vcore ee aL onl aN 


a 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATES 

PAGE 
Maria Martinez, the leading potter of San Ildefonso . : Frontispiece 
Fragments of ancient corrugated wares : : : ; : 
Old decorated vessels from the Pueblo villages : . : : 8 
Old San Ildefonso vessels. : , : : : 8 
Old San Ildefonso vessels : ; ‘ 10 
Modern polychrome ware by Maria Martinez . F ; : 10 
Modern polychrome and black-on-red wares : ; ; : : 12 
Modern plain and decorated Opt black ware : : ; 14 
Winnowing clay ; : : 16 
a, Digging tempering material. b, Guaco plant . : 20 
Gourd spoons ,; 26 
a, Kneading clay. b, Primary stages ‘of bowl moulding : ; 32 
Method of building vessels é 32 
a, Work on rim of unfinished bowl. b, Shaping vessel : 36 
Successive stages in the moulding of an olla 42 
a, Moulding an olla. 6, A typical potter : 44 
a, Finishing touches. 6, Application of handle . ; 46 
Sun-drying. ; : 52 
Scraping ; , ; 54 
a, Cutting down an olla. “s Applying slip ; ; 58 
a, Applying slip. 6, c, Polishing ’ : ; 60 
Decorating small vessels ' : ; : 66 
Decorating ollas_ , : , ; 68 
a, Drying the oven site. 6, Preparing the oven . : : 70 
Oven-building : ; 72 
Firing . ; : : : : 3 : ; . : 72 
a, Smothered fire. b, Wiping fired vessels ’ f 5 ; 74 
Zufii potter preparing clay ; : ; : : f 76 
Zufii potter moulding a vessel . ‘ . Q . ; 76 
Zufii potter finishing a vessel. ; : : : 76 
Zufii potter decorating and firing a vessel ; } : ; : 76 
Design by Maria Martinez ; : : : : 81 
Design by Maria Martinez : ; ; : : : : 82 
Design by Maximiliana Martinez . ; ‘ ; : ‘ 82 
Design by Antonita Roybal. : F : ; : ; : 84 

FIGURES IN THE TEXT 

Outlines of post-Basket Maker vessels ; 3 : : ; : ; 6 
Pre-Pueblo pottery ; i , ‘ : : i 
Decorations of ancient Pueblo bowls. ; : : : 9 
Bad examples of modern pottery : ; : ; : f 13 
Paint brushes ; : : ; ; 28 
Sections of a bowl during building ; 5 : ; : 4 34 
Method of terracing a prayer-meal bowl. : : : wi : 48 
Angles of paint brush during stroke ; : 2 : : : : 68 
Growth of a polychrome gorien ; : : : : : ee 


Raincloud design : : ‘ ‘ : , 3 ; 
Elements of design . : ; : ; ; ; : : A : 87 


INTRODUCTION 


The present paper is a careful study by Dr. Guthe of pottery making at San 
Ildefonso, a typical Pueblo Indian town on the Rio Grande, north of Santa Fe, New 
Mexico. The field-work was undertaken in 1921 as part of an archaeological survey 
of the Southwest, that has been carried on for a number of years by the Depart- 
ment of Archaeology of Phillips Academy. From prehistoric archaeology to modern 
pottery making may seem a far cry, but in the Southwest the past merges almost 
imperceptibly into the present, and the Pueblos of today live in almost exactly the 
same way, and practise almost exactly the same arts, as did their ancestors of a 
thousand years ago. In the Southwest, therefore, the archaeologist has the in- 
valuable opportunity of observing, and of studying at first hand, the life whose 
earlier remains he unearths from the ancient ruins. When one considers what such a 
privilege would mean to the excavator in, for example, the mounds of the Mississippi 
Valley, or the Neolithic village-sites of Europe, it becomes obvious that the South- 
western archaeologist should devote a not inconsiderable part of his time to the 
study of that industrious, kindly, hospitable, and thoroughly charming folk, the 
Pueblo Indians. 

Living a sedentary, agricultural life in an arid country it was inevitable that 
the Pueblos should early have developed into expert and prolific potters; and so 
pottery, in the form of sherds scattered about their former dwellings, and of vessels 
piously interred with their dead, is the most striking, the most abundant, and the 
most readily accessible form of evidence to be dealt with by the Southwestern 
archaeologist. The value of pottery to the student of the past cannot be more 
happily expressed than in the words of the historian Myres: ‘‘ When with the soft 
clay which has, so to say, no natural shape or utility at all, the human hand, guided 
by imagination, but otherwise unaided, creates a new form, gourd-like, or flask-like, 
or stone-bowl-like, but not itself either gourd, or skin, or stone, then invention has 
begun, and an art is born which demands on each occasion of its exercise a fresh 
effort of imagination to devise, and of intellect to give effect to, a literally new thing. 
It is a fortunate accident that the material in question, once fixed in the given form 
by exposure to fire, is by that very process made so brittle that its prospect of 
utility is short; consequently the demand for replacement is persistent. The only 
group of industries which can compare with potmaking in intellectual importance is 
that of the textile fabrics; basketry and weaving. But whereas basket-work and all 
forms of matting and cloth are perishable and will burn, broken pottery is almost 
indestructible, just because, once broken, it is so useless. It follows that evidence so 
permanent, so copious, and so plastic, that is to say so infinitely sensitive a register 
of the changes of the artist’s mood, as the potsherds on an ancient site, is among the 
most valuable that we can ever have, for tracing the dawn of culture.” 

Myres wrote of arid Egypt, and in many ways conditions in the likewise arid 
Southwest, where a primitive people were also building up for themselves through 
agriculture a new type of civilization, closely parallel those of the Nile Valley in 


2 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


predynastic times. And the analogy, naturally enough, holds good in the matter 
of archaeological methods. The rise and spread of the predynastic cultures of 
Egypt are being traced out in large part by studies of ceramic types and of their 
stratigraphic relation one to another. The same methods are applicable, and in- 
deed are now beginning to be applied, to the problems of the Southwest. 

To understand the trend of recent archaeological work in the Pueblo field it is 
necessary to take a bird’s-eye view, so to speak, of the region. Over a vast area in 
New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and the state of Chihuahua in Old Mexico, 
are found the remains of the prehistoric Pueblos. Their villages, now in ruins, were 
built in all sorts of places, on the tops of mesas, in open plains, in narrow canyons, 
on the ledges of great cliffs, and in the shelter of caves. They range in size from one- 
or two-room houses of the roughest construction, to great communal buildings of 
five hundred or even a thousand rooms, compactly built of excellent masonry and 
terraced to a height of three, four, or five stories. The artifacts, too, found in them 
vary bewilderingly, both in degree of perfection, and in type. All Southwestern 
houses, however, and all Southwestern artifacts, have a certain family resemblance 
that allies them to each other and makes it evident that they are all the product of a 
single culture, a culture distinct, for example, from that of Central Mexico or that of 
the Mississippi Valley. To reconstruct the history of that culture, to trace its 
origin, to follow its growth, and to explain how and why it developed in the peculiar 
way it did, are the tasks which confront the Southwestern archaeologist. 

As in any scientific problem, the first step must be to collect and classify the 
data; and although Pueblo sites are numbered in thousands, and an overwhelming 
amount of merely descriptive work must still be done, the outlines of a classification 
have been achieved. We know, for example, what sort of ruins are found in the 
San Juan drainage of northern New Mexico; what kinds of pottery occur along the 
Gila river in southern Arizona. But what relationship, genitically and in time, 
there existed between, say, Pueblo Bonito and Casa Grande, we do not know. The 
time element, or in other words the historical sequence of our material, remains in 
large part to be determined. 

To set up an historical outline we must first determine the relative ages of the 
different ruins, and then estimate the size and distribution of the Pueblo tribes from 
the earliest times to the present. At the top, so to speak, of our series the problem 
is simple enough — we are acquainted with the present location of the tribes, and 
the various Spanish accounts tell us where they have been living during the past 
three hundred and fifty years. But for the prehistoric period (and everything in the 
Southwest prior to 1540 is prehistoric) we must rely almost wholly on such evidence 
as may be turned up by the archaeologist’s shovel, for of native written records 
there are none, nor can native legendary testimony be safely depended upon. This, 
of course, throws a heavy burden upon the archaeologist, a burden which is made 
heavier by the fact that stratigraphy of remains is so rarely found in the Pueblo 
country. 

Stratigraphy, in other words the superposition of the more recent upon the more 
ancient, has been the Open Sesame to all the reconstructive sciences. The very frame- 
work of geology, for example, has been built up from stratigraphic observations. 


INTRODUCTION 3 


In archaeology, too, stratigraphy has revealed the sequence of the Stone Ages; 
made clear the development of the early Mediterranean cultures, and the rise 
of predynastic civilization in Egypt. Therefore, as has just been said, the general 
lack of stratigraphic conditions in the Southwest renders the task of the student 
a particularly hard one. For some reason, not yet clearly understood, the Pueblos 
ancient and modern were very prone to shift from one dwelling place to another, 
and a site once abandoned was seldom reoccupied. Although their houses were 
of the most permanent construction, and their agricultural life should have tended 
to render them solidly sedentary, they moved about to a surprising extent. The 
result of this is that one seldom finds a ruin which was lived in for more than a few 
decades or, at most, centuries; and few have so far been discovered to contain super- 
imposed remains illustrating any long period of development. Where such evi- 
dence is so rare, what can be found naturally becomes of the greatest importance; 
hence the recent diligent search for, and excavation of, such sites as show signs of 
long occupancy. 

The choice of Pecos for investigation by Phillips Academy was due to the above 
considerations. The ruin was a large one, was occupied at the time of the Discovery 
and was not abandoned until 1838. A surface examination also showed that it must 
have been tenanted for a long time prior to the Conquest because its mounds were 
scattered over with potsherds not only of recent date, but also of several distinct 
prehistoric types, each one well enough known to students, but whose relative ages 
were entirely a matter of conjecture. It was hoped, therefore, that excavation 
might disclose some definite cases of superposition, and that several prehistoric 
periods might thereby be arranged in their proper chronological order.! 

The results have been more than satisfactory. Pecos proved to have been 
built on the edge of a sharp-sided mesa, a fact not suspected before digging began, 
because the rubbish from the town had heaped up to such an extent against the 
original cliff as completely to mask its steepness. The first inhabitants naturally 
threw their refuse over the edge of the mesa, their descendents added to the accumu- 
lation, and the process continued down the centuries until there grew up a midden of 
enormous extent and, for the Southwest, of unusually great depth. It is stratified 
as neatly as a layer-cake. 

When the exploratory trenches revealed the size and probable importance of 
the Pecos rubbish heap, all other projects were postponed, and two full field-seasons 
were devoted to the meticulous dissection of large areas of the deepest deposit. At 
frequent intervals stratigraphic tests were made, in which all the specimens from 
each successive stratum were kept separate and shipped to the Museum for study. 
It was found that many changes in culture had taken place during the long occu- 
pancy of Pecos; in the stone and bone implements, in the pipes, and in burial 
customs. But the most abundant, the most easily gathered, and the most readily 
interpreted evidence of cultural change was offered by the thousands of pottery 
fragments that filled the mound from subsoil to surface. 


1 A brief history of Pecos, and a description of the work so far done at the site, are contained in “An Introduc- 
tion to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology, with a Preliminary Account of the Excavations at Pecos’’, by A. V. 
Kidder; No. 1 of the present series. 


4 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


We have been able to recognize about twenty distinct wares, to arrange them 
into eight chronological groups, and to determine the exact sequence of these groups. 
This information, derived from the stratigraphic study of the pottery in the mounds, 
has been of the greatest value. Its application has been both local and non-local. 
In the excavations that we have since carried on at Pecos it has enabled us to date 
relatively to each other the various kivas, cemeteries, and small refuse mounds that 
occurred on the mesa top, and also to unravel much more confidently than we would 
otherwise have been able to do, the extraordinarily complex jumble of ruined, torn- 
down, stone-robbed, rebuilt, abandoned, and reoccupied rooms that we encountered 
when we attacked the pueblo itself. As helpful as has been the knowledge of the 
sequence of the pottery types in working out the details of local archaeology, its 
usefulness in that regard is small as compared with the flood of light which has been 
thrown on much larger and more vital problems. It has just been stated that some 
twenty types of pottery were identified; the majority of these are not peculiar to 
Pecos; many of them occur throughout large areas in the Rio Grande drainage; and 
so we are now able, in most cases by a hasty examination of the surface sherds, to 
assign to its proper place in the chronological series any ruin at which our types are 
present. Thus mere reconnaissance (a cheap and rapid undertaking) now serves to 
make clear the major outlines of Rio Grande archaeology. But the usefulness of the 
stratigraphic studies at Pecos does not end with the territory in which the Pecos 
types of pottery are found, for Pecos, because of its size and because of its situation 
on the main route between the Pueblo country to the West and the buffalo ranges to 
the East, was an important trade centre. 

From its mounds we have taken potsherds from almost all parts of the South- 
west, shells from the Pacific, spindle-whorls from Central Mexico, as well as pottery 
and stone objects from the Mississippi drainage. The importance of such finds is 
evident; every sherd from an outside culture found in a datable stratum at Pecos 
helps to fit into our general chronological scheme the culture from which it came; as 
conversely, does every Pecos or even Rio Grande sherd that turns up beyond the 
limits of the Rio Grande. Only a start has been made, but enough has already 
come to light at Pecos and at such stratified sites as have been excavated by other 
institutions, to provide us with a surprisingly full knowledge of the rise and growth 
of the Pueblo civilization. Ten years ago it would have been hard to believe how 
much could be accomplished by the stratigraphic work carried on by Nelson in the 
Galisteo Basin, Hodge at Hawikuh, Judd at Pueblo Bonito, Morris at Aztec, 
Guernsey in the Kayenta country, and the writer and his associates at Pecos. 

The work, as I have said, has just begun, but the prospects are bright. Success 
will depend, as in any such endeavor, upon intelligent excavation, careful 
collection of data, and accurate observation of specimens, but the investigator 
cannot hope to derive the best results from his labors if he does not hold to a very 
broad view of his field. He must familiarize himself not only with the material of 
the locality he is working in but must also know as much as possible about that of 
other regions, for it is of the last importance that trade-objects be recognized 
wherever they occur. Of all trade-objects, vessels and potsherds are likely to be the 
commonest and most easily recognizable. 


INTRODUCTION 5 


When the members of the Pecos expedition realized how vitally important was 
to be a close knowledge of the pottery, not only of that particular site, but also of 
the Rio Grande in general, and, indeed, of the entire Southwest, they devoted a 
large part of their time, both in the field and at the Museum, to the study of 
ceramics. A difficulty was at once encountered in our ignorance of the technique of 
Pueblo pottery making. We were constantly obliged to compare the paints and 
slips of different wares, to decide whether observed variations were technically 
fundamental, or were merely accidents of clay-mixing or firing. No full published 
accounts existed, nor had any of us had the opportunity for more than casual obser- 
vation of potters at work. Dr. Guthe, accordingly, spent the month of August, 
1921, at San Ildefonso in making detailed studies. His results are published in the 
hope that they may be of use to Southwestern archaeologists and ethnologists, and 
also to students of the primitive pottery of other areas who may be in need of 
material for comparative purposes. 

In order that the reader may envisage the long history that lies behind the 
work of the modern potters, I give a summary of our present knowledge of the 
origin and development of pottery in the Southwest. 

To go back to the very beginning, it is not yet certain whether pottery making 
was introduced into the region from Mexico, or whether it was a local invention. 
There is evidence in favor of each theory. As will presently be shown, there can be 
traced in the Southwest an almost unbroken development from the earliest and 
crudest forms, through intermediate stages, to the perfected styles of later times; 
nor can Mexican influence be seen in the wares themselves at any period from 
beginning to end. Hence it might appear that the art was of purely local origin and 
growth. On the other hand, Mexico was the breeding ground for all the higher 
elements of native American culture: corn-growing, the cultivation of cotton, the 
use of stone masonry, the true loom, etc., and it is practically certain that all these 
traits worked into the Southwest from Mexico. It would thus seem reasonable to 
suppose that the concept of pottery came from the same source, particularly as 
pottery does not appear in our area until some time after the introduction of corn, 
and the mere presence of corn proves contact of one sort or another with Mexico, 
where presumably pottery had been in use for a considerable period. My present 
feeling is, however, that the importation consisted of no more than the bare idea 
that vessels could be made of clay, and that the subsequent development of the art 
was entirely unaffected by outside influences. This question, so important for its 
bearing on general problems of dissemination versus independent origin of culture 
traits, can only be settled by work in the archaeologically still unknown field of 
northern Mexico. 

The earliest inhabitants of the Southwest of whom we have certain knowledge 
were the Basket Makers, so called by their discoverer because basketry rather than 
pottery was buried with their dead. They lived in southeastern Utah and northern 
Arizona, were an agricultural or semi-agricultural people who built no permanent 
houses, and who had no true pottery. In some of the caves that they occupied, 
however, there have been found a few fragments of crude, unfired clay dishes whose 
thick, bungling sides bear the imprints of the fingers of their makers. Save for 


6 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


occasional hesitating lines of incised marks, or straggling daubs of black paint, these 
vessels are undecorated. They bear no slip, nor, as was said above, were any of 
them subjected to the burning which would have converted them into true pottery. 
In the course of time, though whether that time should be counted in tens, or hun- 
dreds, or even thousands of years, we have at present no way of telling, the Basket 
Makers began to build houses of stone slabs, to group their hitherto scattered 
dwellings together into small communities, and, most important of all from the 
point of view of our present inquiry, to make hard, thin-walled, thoroughly fired 
vessels, in other words real pottery. The culture stage characterized by these 


OCse 


SEO 


Fic. 1. Outlines of Post-Basket Maker vessels. (Courtesy S. J. Guernsey.) 


remains and further distinguishable from the classic Basket Maker on the basis of 
house structure, sandal form, and other traits, was first identified by S. J. Guernsey, 
and named by him “‘post-Basket Maker’”’. 

Post-Basket Maker pottery is simple in form and in decoration. It is normally 
light gray in color. The vessel forms most commonly found are bowls (fig. 1, d, e), 
globular vessels with restricted orifices (fig. 1, a), and water jars, the latter often 
having a swollen neck (fig. 1, b). The body of the ware in cross-section has a 
markedly granular appearance, due to the large size of the bits of tempering material 
included in it. A small percentage of the bowls bear a thin white slip on the interior 


PLATE 2 


ANCIENT CORRUGATED WARES 
a. Pre-Pueblo. b. Early Pueblo. ec. Classic Pueblo period. 


INTRODUCTION 7 


and are ornamented with irregularly drawn designs in black paint (fig. 1, e). 
Many of the patterns suggest basketry prototypes. 

All in all, post-Basket Maker pottery, judging from the few specimens so far 
recovered, is surprisingly well made; so well as to raise the suspicion that an earlier 
stage still awaits discovery. Hints of such a stage have, indeed, been found in the 
form of heavy clay dishes, tempered with shredded juniper bark, unbaked but dis- 
tinctly superior in size and workmanship to the Basket Maker product. These 
specimens have turned up in post-Basket Maker sites, but in caves stratigraphically 
so confused that it is still uncertain whether they antedated, or were contempo- 
raneous with, the more highly-perfected post-Basket Maker wares. They are too 
crude, however, to be considered the direct forerunners of post-Basket Maker pottery. 
If the development took place in the San Juan, one step at least is still lacking. 
These questions will be answered by further work of the sort now being carried on 
by Guernsey in the Kayenta country and by Morris in the Canyon del Muerto. 


Fic. 2. Pre-Pueblo vessels. 


From post-Basket Maker times down to the present day, however, the develop- 
ment of Southwestern pottery can already be outlined with considerable confidence. 
The next stage is usually called the pre-Pueblo. It is marked by further improve- 
ments in house-building, by the introduction of cranial deformation, and by certain 
innovations in ceramics. It had been the custom with the post-Basket Makers (as 
among many primitive people) to build up their vessels by adding to the growing 
walls successive rings of clay. When the process was complete and the sides had 
reached the requisite height, all trace of the rings was obliterated by rubbing down 
the surface. In the interiors of some post-Basket Maker pieces, however, with 
orifices so small that a smoothing tool could not be introduced, there were left the 
telltale junction-lines between the structural rings. In pre-Pueblo times it became 
the fashion purposely to leave unsmoothed the last few rings at the necks of certain 
small cooking vessels (fig. 2, a; pl. 2, a). This was the beginning of the elaborate 
coiled or corrugated technique, later so widely used. 

Pre-Pueblo black-on-white ware takes the form of bowls, pitchers, ladles, small 
jars, and ollas. Its paste is hard, is less heavily tempered than post-Basket Maker 


8 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


paste, and the surfaces of the pieces are better smoothed. The decoration is 
characterized by boldness and dash, the brushwork being correspondingly hasty. 
The lines are of irregular width, nor was care exercised that the junctions of strokes 
should be accurate. As is shown by the accompanying drawings (fig. 2, b, c), 
the commonest elements are the stepped figure and the triangle, both often 
emphasized by sets of widely spaced thin lines which follow the outer edges of 
the basic patterns. 

The transition between the pre-Pueblo and the Pueblo was evidently a gradual 
one. There was no violent break, either in culture or in physical type; and so it is 
hard to say just where the dividing line should be drawn. The introduction of 
indented corrugated pottery, however, forms a convenient milepost on the road of 
ceramic progress. The change was brought about as follows: the plain, broad rings 
of pre-Pueblo ware were replaced by a continuous thin fillet of clay applied spirally; 
the junctions between the successive laps of the fillet were left unobliterated, not 
only at the neck, but over the entire vessel; and the fillet itself was also notched or 
pinched or otherwise indented to produce various ornamental effects (pl. 2, b, c). 
Thus was made the well-known coiled or corrugated cooking-ware so characteristic 
of all the archaic true Pueblo ruins, a style introduced at about the same time as the 
development of the above-ground rectangular living-room, the clustered method of 
building, and the use of horizontally coursed masonry, all elements that are com- 
monly recognized as typical of true Pueblo culture. The earliest varieties of Pueblo 
pottery are imperfectly known, for little work has so far been done in the small and 
often nearly obliterated mounds that mark the house-sites of the first pueblo- 
dwellers. It is certain, however, that in the San Juan and Little Colorado drainages 
there was a strong growth in corrugated ware. This technique was experimented on 
and played with. The variety and even virtuosity of the results are extraordinary: 
waved coiling, pinched coiling, incised coiling, and all manner of indenting were 
practised (pl. 2, b). The black-on-white ware evidently did not advance so rapidly, 
the vessels, to judge from the sherds, were not particularly symmetrical as to shape 
or notable as to finish. The decoration ran to hachure in wavy lines and to poorly 
drawn spiral figures. 

As I have just said, little is known of the early Pueblo sites. The period which 
they represent, however, was undoubtedly a long one. The date of its beginning is 
entirely problematical, nor can we even say with any assurance when it ended, but 
the probabilities are that as early as the opening of the Christian era the Pueblos 
had begun to gather together into larger settlements, to develop the closely-knit 
community life, and the many-storied terraced style of architecture which typify 
the golden age of their existence. Between that time and 1000 or 1100 A.D. the 
more or less uniform early culture split up into distinct and often highly specialized 
local sub-cultures, each of which followed its own line of growth in house-building, 
pottery-making, and the minor arts. It was during this general phase of Southwestern 
history that there came into being the great pueblos and _ cliff-dwellings that 
housed entire villages: Pueblo Bonito and the other Chaco Canyon towns; the 
cliffhouses of the Mesa Verde and of the Kayenta country; the enormous adobe 
constructions such as Casa Grande on the Gila and Casas Grandes in Chihuahua. 


PLATE 3 


OLD MODERN DECORATED WARE 
a. Acoma. b. Zufii. c. Sia. d. Hopi. e. San Ildefonso. f. Tesuque. g. Santo Domingo. h. Cochiti. 


"ORT poysyod “pO ynq-uo-yorg *q ‘e 
OSNOJHGTI NVS WOUA SHOHId ATO 


~ ALVId i 


) 


a 


INTRODUCTION 9 


To describe the many different wares of the classic Pueblo period would entail 
far more space than is available in this introduction. Brief accounts of the more 
important styles are included in the first paper of the present series,! and a handbook 
of Southwestern pottery will, it is hoped, appear as a subsequent number. A single 


ALY 


Fic. 3. Black-on-white bowls of classic Pueblo period. a. Chaco Canyon. b. Mimbres Valley. c. Upper 
Gila River. d. Mesa Verde. 


illustration (fig. 3) must suffice to show the bewildering variety and the high artistic 
perfection which were reached at this time. 
It seems ordained that periodsof high achievement shall be followed by periods of 
slackening and even atrophy. So it was with the Pueblos. The years between about 
1 Kidder, 1924. 


10 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


1000 A.D. and the Spanish invasion of 1540 were evidently a time of tribulation. 
The formerly prosperous communities of the North and the South were abandoned, 
the population shrank, the arts degenerated, and when Coranado entered the 
Southwest he found the Pueblos occupying a mere fraction of their former range. 
What brought about this decline is not surely known, droughts, intertribal wars, 
pestilences, inbreeding, may all have been in part responsible; but its principal 
cause was probably the ever-increasing attacks of nomadic enemies. At all events 
Pueblo culture of the sixteenth century was not what it had been in the past, and 
pottery making suffered with the other arts. By that time the beautiful and 
elaborate, but difficult, corrugated technique had been given up, and cooking 
vessels had become mere unornamented pots; black-on-white ware with its hand- 
some, intricate geometric decoration had long been extinct, replaced by various 
local styles, few of which equalled it in technical excellence or artistic perfection. As 
a matter of fact the ceramic products of the historic period are very little known. 
In old times pottery formed an essential accompaniment of the dead, hence at 
nearly every prehistoric ruin may be found a burial place richly stocked with 
mortuary vessels. With the arrival of the priests, however, missions and Catholic 
cemeteries were established, all interments took place under the supervision of the 
Padres, and no more bowls or ollas went into the graves. 

Pottery, of course, is short-lived, few vessels, other than reverently guarded 
ceremonial jars, can be expected to escape breakage for more than a generation or 
two, and so we have practically no material to illustrate the changes which took 
place between the Conquest and the present day. Much will eventually be learned 
in regard to seventeenth and eighteenth century Pueblo pottery, but the work will 
have to be done largely on the basis of sherds from the rubbish heaps of the older 
towns, and such broken pieces as may be found under the fallen walls of abandoned 
dwellings. We can, however, supplement this research by working backwards, so 
to speak, from the modern wares. If we can acquire a thorough knowledge of them 
it will be much easier to understand the fragmentary material we shall have to deal 
with in studying the early historic period. We should accordingly collect all possible 
data as to the wares turned out in recent years at the various pottery-making 
Pueblos. 

The term pottery-making Pueblos is used advisedly, for, queerly enough, no 
pottery is manufactured at a number of the towns. If this condition had come 
about within the last decade it would be easy to account for, as tin oil cans for 
holding water, enamelled pots for cooking, and china dishes for serving food have 
lately been pushing native pottery out of use. But no pottery, other than rough 
cooking ware, has been made for a long time at Taos, Picuris, San Felipe, Jemez, and 
Sandia; while the art is practically or wholly extinct at Laguna, Isleta, and Santa 
Ana. Potters occasionally marry into these towns and continue to exercise their 
craft, but they seem to have no disciples among their daughters or among the local 
tribeswomen. At all the other Pueblos, however, potting is still carried on, but in 
most cases with a decreasing output and a lamentable degeneration in technique. 
The vessels, being mostly made to sell to tourists or curio dealers, are carelessly 
fashioned, crudely decorated, and insufficiently fired, Good contemporary pieces 


PLATE 5 


OLD MODERN SAN ILDEFONSO WARES 
a, ce, d. Polychrome. b, e. Black-on-red. 


PRESENT-DAY POLYCHROME WARE BY MARIA MARTINEZ 


PLATE 6 


Courtesy K. M. Chapman 


INTRODUCTION 11 


are becoming rare, and the older vessels, which are naturally the best material for 
study, are now almost gone from the villages. Some pieces, however, are still left, 
and many more are in the hands of Mexicans and Americans living in the South- 
west. These should be got into the custody of museums as rapidly as possible, for 
pottery is fragile stuff and every year sees the breakage of many unreplacable old 
vessels. 

Excellent work in collecting and preserving the older pieces is being done by 
certain residents of Santa Fe, who have organized the ‘Southwestern Pottery 
Fund’. In spiteof limited resources they have got together a most remarkable collec- 
tion from the Eastern pueblos, and are constantly adding to it as specimens come 
into the market. 

A plate showing a typical example of old modern decorated ware from each of 
the pottery-making pueblos is here given, in order that the reader may appreciate 
the striking differences which obtain (pl. 3); San Ildefonso vessels of this period 
are illustrated elsewhere (pls. 4, 5). 

In closing this introduction something should be said of the older San Ilde- 
fonso wares, and of the remarkable renaissance which has led to the high artistic 
achievements of the present-day potters. 

Of the pottery made at San Ildefonso during the early historic period we have 
as yet no definite knowledge, but from the fact that the sherds at the ruined pueblo 
of Cuyamongé, a Tewa village only a few miles from San Ildefonso which was 
abandoned in 1698, are closely similar to the seventeenth century wares of Pecos, we 
may conclude that the San Ildefonso product of that time also bore resemblance to 
that of Pecos. The Pecos wares in question have as yet been but briefly described.! 
The following are the leading varieties: rough black cooking ware; polished red; 
polished black; and decorated ware of two varieties, black-on-buff, and black-and- 
red-on-buff. The ornamentation is in heavy black lines, for the most part sloppily 
drawn, but the designs are bold, free, and effective. Although these styles all differ to 
some extent from the ceramics of late nineteenth century San Ildefonso, the artistic 
and technical relationship of the two groups is evident at a glance. The principal 
differences lie in the much greater amount of polished red found at Pecos, and in 
the absence from Pecos of a black-on-red decorated ware made at San Ildefonso. 

What we know of nineteenth century San Ildefonso pottery is derived from 
pieces found in the pueblo when collecting began about 1870; and from vessels secured 
between that date and 1900. The oldest examples we have were thus probably not 
made much before 1850, and the great bulk of the specimens now in museums and in 
private hands were presumably turned out during the last third of the century. 
This material (aside from cooking pots, of which the older collections contain practi- 
cally no examples) is divisible into five types, two plain and three decorated. The 
plain wares are polished black and polished red; the decorated are black-on-buff, 
black-and-red-on-buff (usually called polychrome), and black-on-red. 

The polished black and polished red are, as Dr. Guthe brings out in greater 
detail below (p. 74), merely variants of the same ware — the red being produced by 
a preliminary burning in a more or less open fire — the black by smothering the 

1 Kidder, M. A. and A. V., 1917, p. 330. 


12 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


fire with pulverized manure at a late stage in the burning. Vessels of both sorts 
were evidently made at San Ildefonso during the period under discussion, the red 
rarely, the black fairly commonly. It is usually supposed that the making of these 
wares, particularly the polished black, was confined to the nearby town of Santa 
Clara, and vessels of the latter type are ordinarily referred to as “Santa Clara 
black’. This is a natural enough error as the Santa Clara turn out nothing but 
the polished wares, and until the last ten years they led all the other pueblos in 
the excellence of their manufacture. The Indians of San Ildefonso, however, say 
that they have always made polished black pottery, and while its production may 
have partly or wholly lapsed during the 90’s and early 1900’s, there is little doubt that 
many of the older specimens, such as the ones here illustrated (pl. 4), are actually 
from San Ildefonso. The majority of the examples of old black are large storage 
jars with full, round bodies and relatively small orifices; there are also capacious 
bowl-like vessels (called by the Mexicans cajetes), which were used for the mixing 
of dough. The old pieces are less meticulously finished than are those of today, 
but their deep, velvety black lustre is of even greater beauty than the extremely 
high polish of the modern pieces. 

The black-on-buff decorated ware was evidently the commonest variety of 
nineteenth century pottery. It took the form of prayer-meal bowls (small open 
vessels with terraced sides) ; medium-sized pots (pl. 3,e); and large storage jars (pl. 4). 
The ware, like all San Ildefonso work, is thick and heavy, giving a “woodeny” 
sound when tapped. The surface color is a creamy buff and the decoration is in 
deep black pigment. The bottoms of all the pieces, and the interiors of the necks of 
the jars, are painted red. The general nature of the elaborate designs is best 
brought out by the illustrations. 

Black-and-red-on-buff or polychrome was apparently not an abundant style 
in old times. Its occurrence at Cuyamongé and at Pecos, however, seem to indicate 
that it was always made at San Ildefonso. There are also in museums and private 
collections pieces which appear to be as old as any of the examples of non-poly- 
chrome. The style was seemingly limited to bowls and small jars (pl. 5). The ware 
itself is the same as the foregoing, but various areas in the decorations (which them- 
selves seem to differ from those of the black-on-buff) are filled in with a purplish red 
paint of very characteristic shade. 

The red-on-black, like the polychrome, was not common. As was said above, 
it is absent from Pecos and Cuyamongé, therefore it is apparently of fairly recent 
origin in the Rio Grande. Its introduction or invention may, indeed, date from as 
recent a time as 1850. It differs from the buff wares in having a dark red slip, much 
more highly polished than are the buff slips. The decoration is in deep black. No 
large pieces, as far as I know, were made, most specimens being small globular jars 
without necks. One of these and a vase-like vessel are illustrated (pl. 5). 

Such was the pottery of San Ildefonso during the second half of the nineteenth 
century. ‘Toward the end of that period, however, a marked degeneration set in. 


1 A searching study of San Ildefonso decoration has been made by K. M. Chapman of Santa Fe. When this is 
published it will throw much light on the morphology of Pueblo design, and upon the relation of San Ildefonso 
symbolism to that of other Rio Grande pueblos. 


PLATE 7 


Courtesy K. M. Chapman 


c 


PRESENT-DAY SAN ILDEFONSO POTTERY 


a, b. Black-on-red by Antonita Roybal. c. Polychrome, by Maria Martinez — one black-on-red piece by 
Maximiliana Martinez. 


INTRODUCTION 13 


This was due to the substitution for native pottery of American utensils for cooking, 
food-serving, and containing water; and to the growing tendency to produce pottery 
for sale to curio stores and tourists rather than for home use. The black-on-buft 
ware and the polished black were given up entirely, the potters concentrating on the 
more showy black-on-red and particularly on the polychrome. In the case of the 
black-on-red the high gloss of the older pieces was no longer produced, and the 
paint, being neither carefully mixed nor sufficiently aged (see p. 26) developed on 
firing a dull, bluish cast. The polychrome also fell off in technical perfection and in 
artistic excellence. The old, dull, purplish reds were replaced by brighter colors, 
the designs became flamboyant, and many ugly non-Indian vessel shapes were 
introduced (fig. 4). This state of affairs went from bad to worse until, in 1907, the 
potter’s art at San Ildefonso was in a thoroughly bad way. A few women, however, 


Fig. 4. Bad examples of modern pottery — un-Indian shapes and slipshod decoration. 


retained something of the old craftsmanship and were ready to profit by the oppor- 
tunity which was about to present itself. 

In 1907 Dr. E. L. Hewett of the School of American Research began a series of 
excavations in the ancient ruins of the Pajarito Plateau. The diggers were all Tewa 
Indians from San Ildefonso. They proved to be excellent shovelmen, who took a 
keen interest in everything they found. They helped us identify many specimens 
which would otherwise have been puzzling, and their comments on the pottery, and 
especially on the designs, were most illuminating. The women of the Pueblo, when 
visiting camp, often held animated discussions as to the vessels from the ruins, and 
it was suggested to some who were known to be good potters, that they attempt to 
revive their art, and try to emulate the excellence of the ancient wares. While the 
response was not immediate, there was observable, during the next few years, a 
distinct improvement in the pottery of San Ildefonso. Realizing the importance of 


14 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


this, the authorities of the Museum of New Mexico and the School of American 
Research threw themselves heartily into the task of stimulating the industry. They 
urged the women to do better and better work, and in particular induced them to 
return to the sound canons of native art. Some old pieces remained in the pueblo, 
many others were in the Museum, of still others photographs were obtained. 
These were all brought to the attention of the potters. 

The undertaking was not an easy one, however, for it was difficult to get most 
of the women to go to the trouble of making good pieces when the tourists, who were 
still the principal purchasers, were equally or even better pleased with imitations of 
china water-pitchers, ill-made raingods, and candlesticks. The problem thus re- 
solved itself into one of supplying a market. The Museum bought many good 
pieces, and Mr. Chapman, who from the beginning had been a leading spirit in the 
attempt at rehabilitating the art, himself purchased large amounts of pottery, 
never refusing a creditable piece, never accepting a bad one. 

Progress was slow, but eventually certain women, becoming interested in their 
work, made real progress both technically and artistically. Their products began 
to sell more freely and at better prices than did those of others. Antonita Roybal, 
Ramona Gonzales, Maximiliana Martinez, and Maria Martinez all turned out fine 
vessels, the two latter being greatly aided by their husbands, who developed into 
skillful decorators. Maria especially shone. By 1915 she had far surpassed all the 
others, her pots were in great demand, and at the present time she has a ready 
market, at prices which ten years ago would have seemed fantastic, for everything 
she can find time to make. Her income is probably not less than $2,000.00 a year, 
and following her example, many other women are now doing fine work and are 
earning substantial amounts. The beneficial effect of this on the pueblo has natur- 
ally been great. New houses have been built, new farm machinery, better food, and 
warmer clothing have been bought, and, best of all, there has been acquired a 
wholesome feeling of independence and of accomplishment, the value of which 
cannot be gauged in dollars and cents. 

From the point of view of ceramics the development has been most interesting. 
Maria began with the manufacture of polychrome ware, as that was the style most 
commonly being made at the time. The shapes were improved, the finish of the 
surfaces was given greater attention, and the decorations were applied with a surer, 
more delicate touch (pl. 6; pl. 7, ¢). Black-on-red ware was taken in hand, the old- 
time polish was restored, the vegetable paint properly prepared and aged (pl..7, a; b). 
Polished black was also reintroduced; pieces of this sort, with their simple, graceful 
shapes and high black gloss sold so well that they soon became an important 
product (pl. 8, b). In 1921, as Dr. Guthe records (p. 24), Maria discovered how to 
apply to polished vessels dull designs which give the appearance of being etched 
(pl. 8, a). This method was in its infancy when Dr. Guthe made his study, but it 
has since proved so remarkably successful that it bids fair to drive out completely 
the making of plain polished ware. Late in the past autumn there appeared at the 
Indian Fair in Santa Fe, some pieces of a warm pinkish color, an entirely new de- 
parture in San Ildefonso pottery making, and one which promises much of interest. 
Developments and changes in design have kept pace with the improvements in 


PLATE 8 


eee = 


Courtesy K. M. Chapman 


PRESENT-DAY POLISHED BLACK WARES 


INTRODUCTION 15 


technique, yet the developement has been purely Indian, and the basic processes of 
today are essentially the same as they were a hundred or a thousand years ago. 

A somewhat similar revival has taken place at the Hopi towns in Arizona. In 
1897 Dr. J. W. Fewkes of the Bureau of Ethnology was excavating the ruin of Sikyatki 
near First Mesa. Nampeo, a woman of Hano, the wife of one of the workmen, 
observed the beautiful old bowls that came from the graves, skillfully copied their 
designs and then searched out beds of clay that could be burned to the exact shades 
of the ancient pieces. Her work was a direct imitation of a lost style rather than a 
development, such as Maria’s, of a current one; but the effect has been no less extraor- 
dinary. Nampeo’s bowls and ollas were so attractive that they sold well; they 
were copied by other women for sale and for their own use, and thus the potter’s 
art of the Hopi was not only greatly stimulated but also radically changed. 

In addition to their economic importance, the cases of San Ildefonso and Hopi 
are of great interest as anthropological phenomena. The stimulus at both places 
was of course partly commercial, but it could scarcely have acted without an inher- 
ent capacity for rapid artistic and technical progress among the Indians themselves, 
nor could it possibly have brought about such great results without the inspiring 
example of exceptionally gifted leaders. It is, therefore, quite conceivable that other 
stimuli, as the discovery of new clays of surpassing excellence, or of fine new pig- 
ments, may have proved equally potent in ancient times, and that some of the 
striking mutations in pottery making, which have so puzzled archaeologists, may 
have been originally started by such discoveries, and been brought to fruition by the 
genius of prehistoric Marias and Nampeos. 

A. V. KippER 


Director Pecos Expedition 


_ a _ Dian 
eon Pane Bp 
< - . ; a ve - wt oh : 


PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


By CARL E. GUTHE 


The Pueblo of San Ildefonso is a Tewa village of about one hundred people, 
situated on the east bank of the Rio Grande some twenty miles northeast of Santa 
Fe, New Mexico. San Ildefonso was chosen for the present study because its 
women have always been skillful potters, and under the wise and friendly encourage- 
ment of the authorities of the School of American Research at Santa Fe have of 
recent years been steadily improving in their work without, however, sacrificing any 
of their native methods. Furthermore, they make more varieties of pottery than 
are turned out at any other one village. Last, and in some ways most important, 
the men of San Ildefonso have for a long time been accustomed to work in the vari- 
ous excavations carried on by the School, cordial relations have been established, the 
confidence of the Indians has been thoroughly won, and I did not encounter that 
reticence toward strangers, so characteristic of the Rio Grande Pueblos, because I 
was known to be a friend of their friends. 

To the Pueblo woman pottery making is simply one of the mechanical house- 
hold tasks, just as dishwashing is among us. Nearly every woman at San Ildefonso 
is a potter, good, bad, or indifferent. In two cases, at least, women have developed 
into real artists, and are relieved of other household duties in order to devote their 
time to pottery making. Each potter of today watched her mother make innumer- 
able pots while she was growing up, and now with a family of her own, she makes 
pottery just as did her mother. Many steps and small details are carried out for no 
other reason than that the mother used to do likewise. Obviously every potter has 
her own technique, which differs slightly from that of others. The daughters in one 
family work in more nearly the same manner than outsiders, because they all have 
had the same teacher. In this report the attempt has been made not only to record 
the essential steps in the making of pottery, but also to note individual variations as 
an index of the amount of latitude a given process may permit. 

Because religion and ceremony play so important a role in the everyday life of 
the Pueblo Indians, it is certain that there must be involved in the making of pottery 
and particularly in its decoration, a mass of esoteric beliefs and practises. The 
Pueblos, however, are so loath to refer in any way to the mystical side of their 
existence, and, if it is even mentioned, at once become so suspicious, that it seemed 
best to steer clear of all allusion to such matters. The present report, therefore, 


18 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


confines itself to a description and discussion of the purely technical side of 
the potter’s art. 

The writer is indebted to the staff of the School of American Research, especially 
to Mr. Kenneth M. Chapman, for the facilities given for and the interest shown 
in the work; also to the Governor of San Ildefonso, Juan Gonzales, for his cordial 
codperation. Of the eight informants used, Maria, wife of Julian Martinez, and 
Antonita, wife of Juan Cruz Roybal, should specially be mentioned because of their 
constant patience, and their willingness to answer the many questions which to 
them must often have seemed absurd. Thanks are also due to the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York, for the photographs of pottery making at 
Zufi (pls. 28-31) which are introduced in this paper for comparative purposes. 


PLATE 9 


WINNOWING CLAY 


a. Hand method. As the material is sifted through the uplifted hands, the wind blows the fine, pure clay 
upon the shaw] at the left, while the heavier impurities drop back on the pile. 

b. Basket method. The clay is repeatedly tossed upward from the basket, until all the fine particles have 
been blown out and have fallen upon the shawl. 


wan al 
Pe . 


WW. 


RAW MATERIALS; COLLECTION, AND PREPARATION 


INGREDIENTS 


Red Clay} 


The region most often visited for obtaining this clay is directly south of San 
Ildefonso, about a quarter of a mile from the village itself, in the arroyos of the low 
hills.2 The deposit lies directly under a sandstone ledge and spreads over a con- 
siderable area. The clay is in the form of soft earth, easily scooped up with the 
hand. In gathering it the Indians first scrape off the top half-inch or so, which 
contains impurities such as small pebbles and twigs. When an area from two to 
three feet in diameter has been cleared in this way, the clay itself is scooped into a 
loose pile in the centre of the space, and transferred by the cupped hands into a 
woman’s shawl or a gunny-sack, and so transported to the house on the back.? 

One method of cleaning the clay may be used either at the beds or at home. 
The material is winnowed like wheat to remove small pebbles and fine gravel, 
either of which will ruin a vessel. The larger impurities are of course picked out by 
hand. The cloth containing the clay is placed in front of the woman and a second 
cloth or shawl is spread on the ground to leeward of her. A gusty wind requires 
several shiftings of the shawl, to the woman’s evident annoyance. A double 
handful is lifted and allowed to sift through the fingers; the fine particles and dust 
are blown upon the shawl by the wind, while the heavier pieces fall again upon the 
pile of uncleaned clay (pl. 9, a). The height to which the hands are lifted, varying 
from three to five feet, the speed of the movements, and the rapidity with which 
the material is allowed to sift through the fingers, all depend upon the force of the 
wind. Sometimes, instead of lifting the clay in the hands, it is allowed to flow over 
the side of a shallow basket tilted toward the woman at the level of her shoulder; 
the coarser particles fall straight down in front of her on the pile of uncleaned clay. 
Another variation is to toss the clay into the air from a shallow basket (pl. 9, b). 
The movement is repeated quickly and rhythmically; the wind as before blowing the 
fine stuff on the shawl, while the coarse particles fall back into the basket. After 
this tossing has been repeated a dozen or more times, the residue, which consists 
mostly of coarse impurities, is thrown away. ‘The process occupies approximately 
half an hour, depending somewhat upon the amount of clay handled. The cleaned 

1A vocabulary of the Tewa terms for clays, paints, and other ingredients; articles of paraphernalia; types of 
pottery; processes of pottery making, etc., was recorded by Dr. Guthe, and is available at Andover for consultation. 

2 See Harrington, 1916, Map 19, point 63. Under the nearby point (60; p. 314) he says: “Clay . . . is ob- 
tained at this place; just where could not be learned.” 

3 Stevenson, to whom with Mrs. Stevenson we are indebted for practically our only comparative material, 
wrote in 1879 of Zufi: “The clay mostly used by the Zufiians in the manufacture of pottery is a dark, bluish, 
carbonaceous clayey shale found in layers usually near the tops of the mesas”’ (1883, p. 329). Later, Mrs. Stevenson 


described at some length the ceremony of securing pottery clay (1904, p. 374). Among the San Ildefonso Indians 
of today there is no outward evidence of any such ceremony. 


20 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


clay, which is now ready for mixing, is by no means entirely dust; it contains no 
lumps, but flaky particles fully three-sixteenths of an inch across are often found in it. 

If at the time of gathering the wind is not strong enough for winnowing, the 
uncleaned clay is brought to the house. Here it may be kept for a windy day, or 
may at once be sifted through an ordinary kitchen sieve of medium large mesh. 

The clay, when cleaned, may be stored in a variety of receptacles (pottery 
vessels, sacks, or boxes), or, if it is the intention of the woman to use it within a few 
days, it is simply left in the shawl. During the fall the Indians gather great quanti- 
ties of clay, and pile it on the floor in the corner of a room for use during the winter 
when the clay beds are frozen. 

The preparation of the clay for use consists of two processes, mixing and 
kneading. The mixing, which as a rule immediately precedes the kneading, con- 
sists of the addition of temper (see page 21). This is done while both ingredients 
are dry. Different varieties of clay are not mixed together. The work is done on a 
piece of canvas, an opened cement-sack, or the inner side of a skin (usually that of a 
goat or dog).! Either the clay or the temper may be put on the mixing surface 
first; the other ingredient is then added, and the whole is sifted through the fingers 
until the mass is uniform in color. The Indians have no definite idea of the neces- 
sary proportions. They judge simply by the color of the resulting mixture. The 
proportions used by three different informants seemed to be about one-third temper 
and two-thirds clay. Before mixing, the clay is reddish brown; the addition of 
temper lightens the color several shades. 

The scrapings from partly finished vessels (see page 54) and the ground-up 
fragments of pots which have cracked badly in the course of sun-drying are used 
a second time. This re-used clay, since it already has temper in it, does not need to 
be mixed over again. It is mingled with newly mixed clay just before kneading, or 
is kneaded by itself, as occasion demands. 

The kneading is usually done on the same canvas or skin that was used for the 
mixing. If a large amount of clay is to be treated at one time, a quantity of water 
is poured into a hollow formed in the centre of the pile. Later, as the worked clay or 
paste approaches the proper consistency, water is sprinkled over it with one hand, 
just as clothes are sprinkled, at first copiously, later more sparingly. At the 
beginning, the entire mass is kneaded until the water has been thoroughly absorbed. 
When the paste is wet, it becomes of course considerably darker. It is then divided 
into masses which can easily be handled, about the size of two large loaves of white 
bread. The woman works the paste to a uniform consistency in exactly the same 
way that dough is kneaded (pl. 12, a), and piles the masses, now ready for use in 
moulding, on a board or canvas, covering then with a piece of cloth to keep them 
damp until they come under the potter’s hands. The consistency is that of putty, 
just dry enough to crack if pinched. The mixing and kneading can be completed in 
half an hour.? 


At Zuni the ingredients are ground and mixed, and the clay is kneaded on a stone slab. (See pl. 28, facing 
p. 76.) 

* Stevenson said, in speaking of Zufii pottery making: ‘“‘This carbonaceous clay is first mixed with water and 
kneaded as a baker kneads dough until it reaches the proper consistency”’ (1883, p. 329). Mrs. Stevenson de- 
scribes the preparation of clay at Zuni as follows: ‘‘The clay is ground to a powder and mixed with a small quantity 


PLATE 10 


a. Indian digging material for tempering pottery from an outcrop near the village. 
b. Guaco, or Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, from the juice of which is made black paint for decorating pottery. 


| 


RAW MATERIALS 21 


White Clay 


White clay is used interchangeably with red, but the two are never mixed. It 
is obtained in the bad-lands to the northeast of San Ildefonso, from the side of an 
arroyo at some distance from the village. The Indians dig it, bring it home, and 
prepare it in exactly the same manner as the red clay. The color, when dry, is 
greyish white; when wet, brownish grey. 


Temper 


The Indians of San Ildefonso obtain their tempering material from outcrops 
along the Santa Fe-Espafiola road, in the vicinity of the landmark known as Camel 
Rock. Near the crest of the first high hill crossed by the road north of Camel Rock, 
just west of the road, in the eastern bank of the cut of the old abandoned road, is a 
small cave made by the digging of this temper (pl. 10, a). There is another outcrop 
in the ridge of which Camel Rock is a part. This mineral is a very light grey in 
color. When freshly exposed to the air it is soft and crumbly — fragments as large 
as the fist can be crushed in the hand — but after being exposed for some time it 
hardens. When chopped out with an axe or hatchet it takes the form of small 
fragments and fine powder. There are veins and nodules of a hard yellow rock in 
the stratum, which are chopped out and thrown away. The source of the temper is 
at such a distance from the pueblo that trips to it are made only at long intervals 
when a large quantity is secured in cement-bags, and carried home in a wagon. Two 
cement-bags may be filled with from fifteen to twenty minutes’ work at the quarry. 

Some of the Indians, while still at the quarry, pound the temper with an axe or 
hatchet, or a stone, to break the larger pieces and remove the coarser impurities. 
Others wait to clean it until reaching the house. In the latter case the temper is 
spread on a cloth or skin; the skin being preferred as offering a smoother, more 
resistant surface. It is then broken up by trampling it with moccasined feet. 
Formerly the Indians ground the temper on their metates. The final step in the 
preparation is to pass the material through a sieve to remove the smaller impurities 
such as sand and crushed rock. Before the sieve was known, the Indians spread the 
temper in a very thin layer on a board or skin, and went over it carefully and pains- 
takingly with their fingers, feeling for any slight irregularities or rough places. 
The temper when cleaned is a fine powder, which looks and feels like dry cement. It 
is stored in old cement-bags ready to be mixed with the clay. 

The purpose of the addition of tempering material is to counteract the tend- 
ency of the pure clay to crack during the shrinkage that takes place in sun-drying 
and in firing. If, however, there is too much temper, the clay becomes “short”’ 
and loses its adhesiveness. The Indians understand this fully, for if vessels crack 
badly during sun-drying, they are ground up, and more temper is added to 
of pulverized pottery, fragments of the latter being carefully hoarded for this purpose. The powder thus com- 
pounded is mixed with water enough to make a pasty mass, which is kneaded like dough. The more care taken in 
pulverizing the material and the more time spent in working it, the finer becomes the paste. When the mass 
reaches such a state of consistency that the fingers can no longer detect the presence of gritty particles, it is still 


more delicately tested with the tongue, and when found to be satisfactory it is placed in a vessel and covered with a 
cloth, where it will retain the moisture until wanted for use” (1904, p. 374-5). 


22 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


the paste before it is used again; if, on the other hand, a pot will not retain its 
shape while being moulded, it is pulled down, more dry clay added to the paste, and 
the mass rekneaded.! 


Cooking-Vessel, or Apache, Clay 


This is very different from the two other kinds of clays used. It is light brown 
in color, with a large quantity of fine mica flakes in it2; it also has a distinctive odor. 
When wet it smells cleaner and fresher than the red or white clay, like a newly 
plowed field after a shower. Some of the San Ildefonso Indians obtain this clay 
from Las Truchas, a mountain district to the northeast of the village?; others get 
it from Santa Fe Canyon. It is dug either with the hand or with a small stick, and 
is brought to the pueblo in the form of small lumps. While still in this condition, it 
is stored in vessels or bags. 

The preparation for use is very different from that of the other clays. The 
lumps are put in a receptacle, such as an enameled washbasin, and sufficient water 
is added to saturate them. If too much water has been mixed in, the mass is put in 
the sun to dry out for a while. After the clay has been thoroughly softened by the 
water, the next step is to remove the pebbles. A small handful is carefully and 
slowly squeezed and kneaded in the left hand, while the thumb and forefinger of the 
right are used to pick out the numerous small pebbles as they are encountered. 
After most of these have been removed, the clay is put on a canvas or skin, and a 
small part of it at a time is flattened out with the heel of the right hand, pressing 
away from the body, and against the cloth or skin so as to produce a very thin layer, 
in which the smaller pebbles are readily felt and from which they can easily be elimin- 
ated. Finally when this has been done with all the clay, the whole mass is kneaded 
together, just as the red and white clays are kneaded. When a uniform con- 
sistency has been attained — that of putty—the mass is ready for use. The re- 
moval of pebbles and the kneading consume from one-half to three-quarters of an 
hour. The pebbles which have been removed are placed in a small lard-pail con- 
taining water, and when the clay adhering to them has dissolved, they are thrown 
away and the clayey water is used in the process of moulding the paste. 

‘Stevenson (1883, p. 329) says: “‘ With this (clay), crushed volcanic lava is sometimes mixed; but the Zufians 
more frequently pulverize fragments of broken pottery, which have been preserved for this purpose. This seems to 
prevent explosion, cracking, or fracture by rendering the paste sufficiently porous to allow the heat to pass through 
without injurious effect.” And again: “The clays used by the Santa Clara Indians are of a brick-red color, con- 
taining an admixture of very fine sand, which, no doubt, prevents cracking in burning, and hence dispenses with 
the necessity of using lava or pottery fragments, as is the custom of the Indians of the western pueblos” (1883, p. 
331). Binns, in “The Potter’s Craft”, describing the preparation of clay, says, “‘If the clay prove very sandy it 
must be washed, . . . but all the sand should not be removed. Clay with no sand in it will be apt to crack in drying 
and burning. Clay with too much sand will be short and brittle in working. If the clay is very smooth and shows 
no sand, a little fine builder’s sand may be added with advantage, a definite porportion being used and recorded” 
(1910, p. 40). 

2 Stevenson, in his catalogue of Zufii collections, enumerated “ Tierra amarilla, or yellow micaceous clay, of 
which the Rio Grande Indians make many varieties of vessels” (1883, p. 368). 

* Harrington, in speaking of a clay-pit near the village of Las Truchas, writes: “It is said that at this place the 
best red pottery clay known to the Tewa is obtained. It is pebbly, but makes very strong dishes, and it is used 
especially for ollas. It is said that Tewa of various pueblos visit this place frequently and carry away the clay. 


The clay deposit is a mile or two southeast of Truchas town” (1916, p. 340). This may be the claypit referred to 
by the informant, although the clay, while pebbly, is by no means red. 


RAW MATERIALS 23 


The most important difference between this clay and the others is that no 
temper of any kind is mixed with it; the clay, after being cleaned, is used in the 
vessels just as it came out of the claypit. The fine mica flakes probably act as 
temper. 


SuLIps AND PAINTS 


Natwe Slip} 


This is a white, flaky, fairly soft mineral, which is used in solution to give a 
white outer coating to the bodies of vessels. It is found at some distance from the 
pueblo, beyond the bad-lands which are visible to the northeast. When the Indians 
reach the place they pick up small sticks to use as digging tools, but if the deposit 
happens to be soft enough, the material is merely scooped out with the hand. It is 
carried home in shawls or bags, and placed in the sun to dry thoroughly; then stored 
in pottery vessels, usually ollas. It receives no further treatment at this time. 
When preparing it for use, the Indians simply place it in water as it is, in small 
lumps. The container is either a small pottery vessel or an enamelled basin. A 
sufficient amount is mixed with the water to give it the color of milk, but not to 
thicken it. Occasionally the consistency of thin cream is obtained. Undissolved 
lumps remain in the solution. 


Santo Domingo Slip 


This substance, known to the Indians of San Ildefonso either as “Santo Domin- 
go white” or “Cochiti white’’, is usually obtained from the Santo Domingo people; 
it is dug, according to some informants, in the same manner as the native slip. 
In color and general appearance it is exactly like the latter, but its surface feels more 
soapy. Santo Domingo slip has largely replaced the native product, because when 
applied it does not need to be polished with a stone, as does the native slip. It is 
prepared for use in exactly the same manner as the native slip. 


Red Slip 


This is a rather loose red earth, which is dug either with the hands or, if con- 
ditions demand it, with a small stick. The San Ildefonso Indians obtain it near 
Santa Fe, but not all of the women know the exact location of the beds. One in- 
formant said it was found in Santa Fe Canyon, east of the town, a short distance 
below the Apache clay beds, at a spot where the convicts from the Penitentiary get 
material for their bricks. There are three different colors of clay at this place, red, 
yellow, and white. The red is the clay under discussion. ‘The white is used to 
color the women’s moccasins. 2 

1 Stevenson, writing of the Zufi, said of their white slip: ‘‘A paint or solution is then made, either of a fine 
white calcareous earth, consisting mainly of carbonate of lime, or of a milk-white indurated clay, almost wholly 
insoluble in acids, and apparently derived from decomposed feldspar with a small proportion of mica”’ (1883, p. 
329). Mrs. Stevenson, in a later publication, said: “‘A white clay is dissolved in water and then made into cones 
which are dried in the sun. When required for use these cones are rubbed to powder on a stone, again mixed with 
water, and applied in a liquid state to the object” (1904, p. 375). 


2 Harrington mentions this bed as “‘a deposit of bright red paint situated about two miles east of Santa Fe, the 
informants think north of Santa Fe Creek, in high land a few hundred yards from that creek. This paint was used 


24 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


This slip is handled in much the same manner as the other clays. It is brought 
home in the usual receptacles — either shawls or bags — and placed in the sun to 
dry thoroughly. It is then stored, usually in ollas or other earthenware vessels, 
without further treatment. 

There are two ways of preparing red slip for use, according to the kind of vessel 
for which it is intended. For polished black ware, it is simply mixed to a thin solution 
with water. For decorated red ware, the process is slightly complicated. At some 
previous time, equal parts of temper and native slip have been mixed in water and 
allowed to dry in cakes. When desired for use on a vessel, the cakes are broken and 
redissolved in water. A sufficient amount is put in to give the water an opaque, milky- 
color, but not to thicken it. To this mixture is added a thin solution of the red slip. 
There is, apparently, no definite rule in regard to the amount of the red solution to be 
added. The woman simply puts in enough to give to the slip, when applied to a pot, 
the proper shade of red. In some cases this mixing of the red and white is done 
once for all at the beginning of the application of the red slip. In other cases the 
woman has a bowl of each solution beside her, and from time to time, as she works, 
adds some of the red to the white. In each bowl lumps of the undissolved sub- 
stances still remain. Occasionally the slip is stirred to the consistency of cream, 
but nearly always it has that of water. 


Orange-Red Slip 


This substance is a yellow clayey earth, in texture somewhat like the two white 
slips. It occurs in the “Valle” to the west, beyond the first Jemez range, near 
Ojo Caliente. It is dug with a stick, in the same manner as the native white, and 
is carried home in shawls and bags. Before being stored it is put out in the sun to 
dry thoroughly, then placed in ollas and kept until needed. Like the other slips, 
it is prepared for use by being mixed with water. A saturated solution is made, 
but the consistency remains that of water. 

This material, which in solution is a brilliant yellow, is used for two purposes — 
as a slip to color the bases of bowls and ollas, and as a paint to supply the red 
elements of polychrome designs. After being fired it assumes an orange-red or 
burnt-sienna color. ! 


Black Ware Paint 


This is a paint used for making matte designs on polished black ware, a new 
departure in decorative technique first used by Maria and Julian Martinez of 
San Ildefonso, in June, 1921. The substance is a hard yellow stone, said to occur 


for body painting. It is said that Jicarilla Apache still go to the deposit to get this paint and sometimes sell it to 
the Tewa” (1916, p. 354). Stevenson, is speaking of the black ware of Santa Clara and other Rio Grande pueblos, 
mentions “‘a solution of very fine ochre-colored clay” (1883, p. 331), which was probably this same substance. 
Mrs. Stevenson also mentions “‘red ochre” (1904, p. 375). 

1 Stevenson, writing of the Zufiis in 1881, said: ““The material used to produce the red or brown colors is a 
yellowish impure clay, colored from oxide of iron; indeed it is mainly clay, but contains some sand and a very 
small amount of carbonate of lime”; it “is generally found in a hard, stony condition, and is ground in a small 
stone mortar . . . and mixed with water so as to form a thin solution” (1883, p.330). Mrs. Stevenson added later: 
“Ferruginous clays which on heating burn to yellow, red, or brown are employed for decorating” (1904, p: 375). 


RAW MATERIALS 25 


in the “Valle’’, west of the Jemez range, near Ojo Caliente, in the same district 
as the orange-red paint. 

The first step in preparing the paint for use is to scrape the stone with a knife. 
The resulting powder is mixed with water, and there is then added about one-fourth 
as much dissolved “‘guaco”’ (see below) as there is paint. It is said that the 
purpose of the guaco is to make the paint “‘stick”’ to the polished surface. This 
paint, when ready for use, is kept in a small earthenware or china dish. The con- 
sistency of the mixture, like the other paints, is that of water. 


Black or Guaco Paint 


This is the only vegetable paint used by the San Ildefonso Indians for the 
decoration of their pottery. It is obtained from a very common weed, known as 
the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, or Guaco,! which grows in the moister flats of this 
district in great profusion. It flowers late in July and early August, and the seed- 
pods open toward the first of September. The Indians say it grows at a given place 
only in alternate years. In favorable spots the plants attain a height of five or 
six feet (pl. 10, b). 

The plant is gathered during April and May, when the shoots are only six 
to ten inches high, and therefore tender. Great quantities of it are carried home 
in shawls and bags. It is placed with water in Apache-clay cooking-pots, and is 
boiled over an open fire, never on a stove. As guaco has a bitter taste (“hot like 
pepper’, the women describe it) when not cooked sufficiently, it is necessary to 
boil it until this unpleasant flavor has disappeared. Over a hot fire half a day is 
long enough, but often a whole day is required. Then the liquid is drained into 
wide-mouthed earthen vessels and placed in the sun to harden into a solid, black, 
rather sticky, mass. Some women reboil the liquid until it thickens, before placing it 
inthesun. Metal containers are not used, because they are said to spoil the color. 
The informants stated that hardened guaco was not eaten. When it has become com- 
pletely solidified it is set away for future use in painting. It will keep indefinitely. 


1 Peritoma serrulatum (Pursh); synonyms: Cleome serrulata, and Cleome integrifolia; (Wooton and Standley, 
1915, p. 290). Stevenson wrote: “It is said that among the Cochiti, Santa Clara, and some other pueblos a vege- 
table matter is employed to produce some of their decorative designs; this, however, I was unable to verify, though 
some of the Indians assured me of the fact, and furnished me a bunch of the plant, which Dr. Vasey, of the Agri- 
cultural Department, found to be Cleome integrifolia, a plant common throughout the Western Territories” (1883, 
p. 331). Again, ‘‘That of the decorated class is ornamented with the juice of Cleome integrifolia, which is fixed to 
the ware in the process of burning” (loc. cit., p. 430). Harrington writes: ‘‘This is a very important plant to the 
Tewa, inasmuch as black paint for pottery decoration is made from it. Large quantities of young plants are col- 
lected, usually in July. The plants are boiled well in water; the woody parts are then removed and the decoction 
is again allowed to boil until it becomes thick and attains a black color. This thick fluid is poured on a board to 
dry and soon becomes hardened. It may be kept in hard cakes for an indefinite period. When needed these are 
soaked in hot water until of the consistency needed for paint. Guaco is also used as a food. The hardened cakes 
are soaked in hot water, and then fried in grease. The finely ground plants are mixed with water and the liquid is 
drunk as a remedy for stomach disorders; or sometimes fresh plants wrapped in a cloth are applied to the abdomen” 
(1916, a, pp. 58, 59). (It should be noted that the accounts cbtained by the writer from the informants of San 
Ildefonso do not agree in detail with the one given by Harrington.) Mrs. Stevenson wrote of Zuii: “‘ Water from 
boiled Cleome serrulata (Mexican name waco) is mixed with black pigment (a manganiferous clay containing organic 
matter) in decorating pottery”’ (1904, p. 375); and in more detail: ‘‘The entire plant, minus the root, is boiled for 
a considerable time, and the water in which it is cooked is allowed to evaporate. The firm paste secured from pre- 
cipitation is used in conjunction with a black mineral paint for decorating pottery” (1915, p. 92). 


26 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


The residue in the pot, after the liquid has been poured off consists of tender 
stems and leaves. This is eaten by the Indians, and is not unlike spinach. 

The hardened guaco juice is stored at least a year before it is used in painting; 
the longer it is kept the better black it produces. If it is used during the first 
year, the resulting color on the vessel is a streaky blue-black. 

Guaco is prepared for use in painting in the same manner as the other pigments. 
A chunk of the hardened mass is broken off and dissolved in water. One informant 
makes a solution which, although black, has the consistency of water. The others 
use a syrupy solution almost like thin molasses. The paint has a distinctive, not 
unpleasant, vegetable odor, and is rather sticky. Any small, wide-mouthed Indian 
bowl, not too shallow, is used as a paint-cup. In this bowl there is always a stirring- 
stick, usually a splinter from a board. 


FUEL 


Manure 


Both cow-manure and horse-manure are used for fuel in burning pottery, but 
sheep-dung, when obtainable, is preferred, because is it thought to make a hotter fire. 

The cow-manure is collected from the corrals, and while still soft is patted 
into large circular cakes, sixteen to twenty inches in diameter. These, after being 
hardened in the sun, are stored in a dry room until needed. Such circular cakes, 
with the hand-prints showing, are usually employed for making the top of the oven. 

The horse-manure is obtained from the corrals in the early spring, where during 
the winter it has been trampled down by the horses into a compact layer a foot or 
more thick. When the corrals are cleaned during April this deposit is cut with an 
axe into chunks roughly two feet square. After being removed, the squares are 
split with an axe into slabs several inches thick, which are then stood up against 
the bases of house or barn walls to dry in the sun, and later stored indoors until 
needed. Disused bread-ovens sometimes serve as temporary storage places. 
Further splitting of the slabs may be done at the time of firing. When used in the 
ovens the slabs are from one to two inches thick. 

Sometimes the slabs of manure are placed in the sun for a day or two before 
being burned, but often they are taken directly from the store-room to the fire, 
where they are supplemented by dried manure collected from the pastures. 

During the burning of polished black ware (see p. 74) the oven is smothered 
with loose manure, which is brought in galvanized washtubs directly from the 
stables and corrals, either at the time of burning, or on the preceding day. ! 


Kindling 


For starting the fire in the oven no wood but cedar is ever used. This is cut 
into pieces from six to eighteen inches long and is split into fine kindling at the time 
of burning. 


1 Stevenson, in 1879, saw the Rio Grande Pueblo potters use “‘coarsely broken dried manure obtained from 
the corrals”, and added that for the polished black ware “another application of fuel, finely pulverized, is made”’ 
(1883, p. 331). 


PLATE 11 


Gourd spoons, or kajepes, used to shape and smooth the walls of vessels. 


a 
” 


PARAPHERNALIA 


PRIMARY PARAPHERNALIA 


Earthenware Moulds or ‘* Pukis’’ 


These moulds are usually the bases of broken bowls or ollas. Occasionally 
pieces of pottery are made especially for moulds; in such cases, although they are 
fired, they are neither finished carefully not decorated. 

When a mould is to be used, a small amount of temper or wood ashes is placed 
in it, so that the vessel being moulded will not stick to it.} 


Gourd Moulding Spoons or “‘ Kajepes”’ 


These spoon-like implements (pl. 11) are made from pieces of gourd-rind, 
usually from broken rattles or dippers. They vary greatly in size, ranging in 
diameter from a little over one inch to as much as four, or four and a half, inches. 
There are also many different shapes: round, several forms of ovals, and a few which 
have one concave edge. The various shapes are used for the different parts of the 
vessels. As a general rule the larger kajepes are used on the larger vessels. Each 
woman has from four to a dozen of these implements, which are distinctly individual, 
for one potter shows awkwardness in handling the spoons of another. It is said that 
potsherds were formerly used for the same purpose as these gourd spoons.? 


Scrapers 


Two kinds of scrapers are used at the present time. One is the top of a baking- 
powder can, which is popular because its shape makes it possible to apply it to any 
part of a vessel. The other scraper is an ordinary kitchen case-knife. The scraping 
of the vessels is done after they have been dried in the sun. It is said that pot- 
sherds, with edges sharpened on a piece of sandstone, were formerly used. 


Polishing Stones 


Very smooth, fine-grained pebbles of various colors are used to put the final 
finish on certain kinds of pottery. They vary considerably in size, from three- 
quarters of an inch long to three, or even three and a half, inches. It is impossible 


1 Stevenson, in 1879, observed at Zuni that “the bottoms of old water jars and bowls form stands for the 
articles while being worked by the potter. The bowls are filled with sand when objects of a globular form 
are to be made” (1883, p. 329). At Pojuaque (a Tewa pueblo near San Ildefonso, now nearly extinct) he collected 
two ‘“‘pottery moulds for bottoms of vessels” (loc. cit. p. 439). Mrs. Stevenson also noticed these olla bottoms 
at Zuni (1904, p. 374). 

2 Harrington writes: “‘Variously shaped section of gourd are used by women to smooth and shape pottery 
in the making” (1916, a, p. 102). Stevenson, in 1879, noted at Zufi “‘a small trowel fashioned from a piece of gourd 
or fragment of pottery, the only tool employed in the manufacture of pottery”’ (1883, p. 329). Mrs. Stevenson 
also speaks of these trowels (1904, p. 374). 


28 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


to classify them by shape, except that the larger ones are usually more flat than 
spherical. Most of the stones appear to be waterworn pebbles, without any acute 
angles or sharp edges. Usually two surfaces of the stone are highly polished, most 
frequently at the ends, where they come in contact with the vessel. Some specimens 
show signs of great wear. 

Each potter has several polishing stones, the number varying from seven to 
sixteen; they are distinctly the personal property of the potter, and apparently 
have a semi-sacred significance. For the most part they are heirlooms, handed 
down from mother to daughter, but additional stones are picked up from ruins 
which the potters have visited. One informant has four stones which her mother 
gave her, and three which she found at the ruined pueblo of Puyé. Another inform- 
ant uses a stone that belonged to her great-grandmother, although her favorite is a 
small one which she found herself at a nearby ruin. Stones are sometimes lent by 
one potter to another, but they very seldom find their way outside the family group.1 


Paint Brushes 


These brushes are narrow slivers of the leaves of yucca or soapweed, from five 
to six inches long, and from an eighth to a quarter of an inch wide. For a distance 


Fig. 5. Slivers of yucca leaf with shredded ends, used as paint brushes for decorating pottery. 


of about an inch from one end, the fibres are chewed and thus separated. Most of 
the chewed fibres are then cut off, and the number remaining determines the fine- 
ness of the point (fig. 5). For very thin lines a brush of only one fibre is used. 
When out of service, the brushes are kept in some receptacle which will protect 
the shredded ends. When the implement is dry the chewed fibres become stiff 
and rather brittle, and must be handled with care ; before using they are soaked in 
water for two or three minutes in order to soften them.2 


1 Stevenson, in speaking of the making of pottery at Santa Clara, mentions “‘the process of polishing — with 
smooth, fine-grained stones”. (1883, p. 331). In his catalogue of stone objects collected at Zufii in 1881, he 
differentiates between “small stones used in polishing pottery’’, “small stones used in polishing unburned vessels”, 
and the “small polisher for glazing and smoothing pottery”, giving three different Indian names for the three 
kinds. He does not, however, explain the difference (1884, pp. 525, 526). He also catalogues “fifteen rubbing or 
smoothing stones for pottery” obtained at Walpi (1884, p. 587). Mrs. Stevenson remarked: “Polishing stones 
are used to finish the surface’’ of vessels at Zuni (1904, p. 375). 

* Stevenson, in 1879 at Zufi, noted that the paint was applied to pottery “with brushes made of the leaves of 
the yucca. These brushes are made of flat pieces of the leaf, which are stripped off and bruised at one end, and 


PARAPHERNALIA 29 


SECONDARY PARAPHERNALIA 


Carrying and Storing Receptacles 


The receptacles used for bringing clays and other ingredients from the pits to 
the village vary somewhat according to the distance that the material must be 
carried. If the beds are close at hand, the material is placed in a shawl spread flat 
on the ground. The shawl is then picked up, the corners are tied, and the bundle is 
carried on the back. Sometimes gunny-sacks and cement-sacks are used instead. 
If the beds are at some distance from the pueblo, the material is placed in sacks 
and brought home in the body of a wagon. As arule the ingredients brought home 
in shawls are transferred to sacks or boxes for storage. Paints are kept in ollas, 
with the exception of the guaco paint, which is allowed to remain in the bowl in 
which it is dried. 


Mixing Surfaces 


Whenever ingredients are to be mixed or crushed, the work is done upon some 
sort of extra surface laid upon the floor. This surface is about a yard square, and 
may be, apparently, of any suitable material — a bit of old canvas, an opened-out 
cement-sack, or a small skin such as that of a goat or dog. Similar surfaces also 
serve for mixing clay and temper, for cleaning temper, for mixing the paste with 
water and kneading it, and finally for holding the kneaded clay during moulding. 
Partly finished vessels are placed upon such a surface at various stages of con- 
struction. For winnowing clay, the women’s shawls are used. 


Boards 


No boards are placed beneath the pukis, or moulding trays, while they are 
being used on the hard floor of the house, but in the courtyard boards are used 
under them in order that holes may not be worn in the ground during the constant 
turning necessary in moulding vessels. When small vessels are completed they are 
placed in rows on a board, where they remain during the early stages of the drying 
process. Rectangular, flat-bottomed vessels are built directly on boards, or on low 
footstools made of short boards with legs at each end. 


Water Containers 


While the potter is at work, she always has beside her a small lard-pail partly 
filled with water, which serves to keep the kajepes damp, to moisten parts of the 
vessel, and from time to time to clean her hands. When the kajepes are not in use, 
they are usually placed in the pail. At San Ildefonso such a pail is now the only 
form of water-container; formerly pottery bowls were probably used. 


are of different sizes adapted to the coarse or fine lines the artist may wish to draw” (1883, p. 330). Mrs. Stevenson 
wrote, again of Zuni: “Yucca glauca Nutt. Soapweed . . . The brushes employed for decorating pottery are 
made from the leaves of this plant, which, for this purpose, are cut the proper lengths and fringed at one end’’ 
(1915, p. 82). 


30 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


Mops for Slips 


These mops are the same for all slips. Each consists of a rag, folded and 
refolded until it is about an inch or an inch and a half wide and from two to two 
and a half inches long. One end of the, rag or mop is held between the thumb and 
the first two fingers of either hand; the other end serves as a wide paint brush. 
The potters state that in former times a piece of leather or skin served the same 
purpose as the cloth mop.! 


Paint Receptacles 


Various receptacles hold the slips and paints that are ready for use. The 
white slips are usually mixed and kept in enamelled basins and pans, because a 
large quantity is prepared at one time. The red and orange-red slips may be in 
small pottery bowls, or in china sauce-dishes. The guaco is invariably in an Indian 
bowl. Undoubtedly at one time native bowls were used exclusively, and there 
may even have been bowls of special shapes or designs for this purpose; at present, 
however, no trace of such a custom remains. 


Wiping Rags 


Wiping rags or, more simply, the aprons of the potters are used at various 
stages of the work — after scraping, after polishing, after the slip has dried, and 
after burning. Apparently any convenient piece of cloth is satisfactory. 


Accessories in Firing 


When the vessels are to be fired, various accessories must be at hand. Four 
or more half-bricks or stones are needed upon which to set the grate. The latter 
may be either a discarded stove-grate, or a collection of strips of iron, metal barrel- 
hoops, and odds and ends, placed together to form a grill.2 Small stones and tin 
cans — such as small condensed milk cans and meat cans — are needed as props 
to keep the fuel from touching the vessels during the burning. Flat pieces of tin 
and the covers of large lard-pails serve at times to close spaces between the fuel 
cakes, and to cover the oven-top, to support which metal rods are often used. 
Lastly, pokers are needed to handle the fuel and to remove the hot vessels. These 
may be wooden or iron rods, broomsticks, old shovels, or even pitchforks. Each 
potter has her own collection of the above materials and implements, stored away 
ready for use. These collections of apparent refuse vary to a surprising extent. 


* Mrs. Stevenson says the Zufiis used a “rabbit skin mop” (1904, p. 375). 
> Mrs. Stevenson wrote of Zufii: “The pieces to be fired are placed upon stones to raise them a few inches 
from the ground”, implying the absence of a grate (1904, p. 376). 


MOULDING 


For the purpose of this report the vessels may be divided into four large 
groups: bowls, ollas, cooking vessels, and unusual shapes. With respect to size 
there are two classes of bowls: those less than four inches in diameter, and those 
larger than that size. In shape bowls may be either wide-mouthed (pl. 6, b, g) 
or constricted-mouthed (pl. 6, a, ce). The ollas all have full, globular bodies and 
relatively small orifices with or without flaring lips (pls. 7, 15, a). As a rule, the 
cooking vessels are shaped like small ollas. Under unusual shapes fall all the 
types and forms which are not of the first three classes, such as terraced (prayer- 
meal) bowls, double-mouthed vessels, double bowls or “‘baskets’’, and vessels with 
handles. 

The moulding of each of the above forms may be said to consist of four principal 
steps: the making of the base, the building of the walls, the shaping, and the finish- 
ing. Very briefly, the process is as follows: The potter first forms a pancake-shaped 
pat of paste from six to eight inches in diameter; this she presses into the mould, 
or puki, to form a base. Then the walls of the vessel are built up by the addition 
of successive ropes, or rolls, of paste laid one upon another. The small bowls are 
the only exception, for they are formed in the hands of the potter from a single 
lump. In some cases the building is done all at one time; in others, and always 
with the larger vessels, a few rolls are added, then the piece is set aside to dry a 
little before the addition of a few more rolls. The potter usually builds two or more 
vessels at once in order to permit work upon one while the other is undergoing a 
brief period of drying. The preliminary shaping of the vessel is done either in the 
course of the building or after the building has been completed. The obliteration 
of the junctions between the rolls and of finger-marks is accomplished with the 
kajepe, or gourd-spoon, and further use of this implement aids in giving the vessel 
its shape. The final step, the finishing, consists of going over the entire vessel 
carefully, first with the kajepe, then with the fingers, to remove slight irregularities 
to even the lip and rim. The finishing is a slow, exacting process, and the difference 
between the artist and the mere pot-maker comes out at this stage of the work. 

The moulding, although usually done in the house, may also take place in 
some shady spot outdoors. If a woman begins her moulding in the morning, she 
will commonly devote the entire day to it. By evening she will have completed 
from five to thirty vessels, the number depending partly upon the size of the pieces 
and partly upon the rapidity with which she works. 

The potter sits upon her heels on some kind of mat; it may be a sheepskin 
with the wool side up, a piece of canvas, or a small woven rug. Her attitude is 
changed only when stiffness requires it. Thereupon she sits with her feet out in 
front of her; or with one leg bent, the foot flat on the ground, the knee beside her 
shoulder, and with the other leg under her or fully flexed in front with both the 


32 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


knee and foot upon the floor. Toward the end of the day the potter usually sits 
against a wall to rest her back, for any one of the postures assumed is tiring. At 
the end of the day the women frequently complain of stiff backs and sore abdominal 
muscles, caused by the almost constant stooping posture. Some potters cover their 
laps with shawls, others wear aprons, and still others use no protection whatever 
for their clothing. 

When the potter is sitting upon her heels, the mould, or puki, is laid directly 
in front of her upon the floor. If she is sitting with her legs extended, it is either 
held in the lap or placed close to her right side. In the house the puki rests directly 
upon the hard earthen floor; outdoors, a short board is placed under it to prevent 
its constant turning from wearing a hole in the relatively softer ground. In the 
puki is sprinkled a thin layer of temper or wood-ashes to prevent the vessel from 
sticking to it. At the right of the potter, within arm’s reach, on a canvas or a piece 
of cloth, is a mass of prepared clay. Rarely this reserve paste is on the left. If the 
paste is in constant use, it is not covered unless exposed to the sun; when, however, 
the moulding is abandoned for even a few minutes, a corner of the canvas or cloth 
is thrown over it. A small lard-pail partly filled with water is an indispensable 
accessory during moulding. This is usually kept between the potter and the paste; 
occasionally it is on the left, sometimes near the puki beside the potter’s right knee. 
The gourd moulding spoons, or kajepes, are also placed within easy reach, on 
the floor near the puki, beside the waterpail, or in the pail itself. The potter is then 
ready to begin moulding. 

The first step is to ascertain by a little handling whether the paste is of the 
proper consistency. If it was kneaded the day before, it may prove to be too dry; 
in such a case the hands are well moistened and perhaps a little water is sprinkled 
on the paste; it is then rekneaded for a few minutes. Then a handful is scooped 
out of the mass with the right hand. If the first handful is not sufficient, a second 
scoop gives the required amount. It is next worked with the hands for half a 
minute to five minutes; if it is of just the right consistency, it is hardly worked at 
all; if it is too dry, the hands are occasionally dipped in water while it is being 
worked; if it is too wet, kneading continues until it is sufficiently dry. There are 
three distinct movements in this final working of the paste. First, the handful is 
pinched and squeezed by opening and closing the hands; if any gritty particle is 
encountered, it is picked out with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand and 
snapped upon the floor. The second movement consists in rolling the paste between 
the two flattened hands. When the roll is about six inches long, it is doubled and 
rerolled. This may be repeated from two to half-a-dozen times. Occasionally 
this step is entirely omitted, especially when a pat is being made. In the third 
movement the paste, now a spherical lump, is slapped back and forth between the 
cupped hands, which are held from six to eight inches paart. Sometimes this 
third movement precedes the second. The handful of paste is now ready to be 
made into a pat. 

There are two ways of forming a pat. In the first one, the spherical lump is 
held on the open left hand and pounded flat with the right fist; from time to time 
it is turned a few degrees by a slight tossing motion. It is then finished by patting 


PLATE 12 


b 


a. Kneading clay preparatory to modeling a vessel. 
b. Bowl-moulding, primary stages. 1, Base formed in mould, edge crimped to receive first roll (cf. pl. 18, a); 
2, Walls built to full height; 3, The same piece after shaping and smoothing. 


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MOULDING 33 


it with the flat right hand until it is fairly smooth and of uniform thickness; in doing 
this the pat is turned by slapping it from the left hand to the right and back again. 
During this interchange, through the natural placing of the hands, the pat is turned 
through an angle of ninety to one hundred and twenty degrees. When the pat has 
been completely formed by this method, it is like a large pancake, six to eight inches 
in diameter and from three-eighths to half an inch thick. It is then pressed firmly 
into the puki, and the edge is turned up and crimped with the thumb and first two 
fingers of each hand to form a slight rim (pl. 12, b, 1). 

In the second method, the spherical lump of paste is first pounded with the 
heel and then with the upper knuckles of the right hand; it is turned meanwhile 
by the tossing motion of the left hand. The next movement is the same as in the 
corresponding stage of the first method, namely, patting the paste with the fiat 
right hand while turning it by transferring it to the right hand and back. Finally, 
before the pat is put into the puki, the edge is bent up and smoothed off a little, so 
that a shallow flat circular tray is formed instead of the slab obtained by the first 
method. This tray is then placed in the puki, where it is pressed down very firmly 
with either the heel of the hand or the balls of the fingers, in order to insure a solid 
uniform base and to expel any air-bubbles in the paste. 

Another handful of clay is now scooped out of the mass on the canvas to the 
right and worked to the proper consistency as before. From the resulting spherical 
lump the potter very skillfully forms a roll of uniform diameter by a backward and 
forward motion of her two hands placed palms together (pl. 13, b).1. There seems 
to be a tendency for the first part of the roll to be of slightly smaller diameter than 
the last part; if this occurs, the roll is reversed and partially rerolled. One end is 
then taken in the right hand, while the left hand holds it near the other at a point 
chosen to prevent too much sagging at the middle. The potter then places the end 
which is in her right hand against the inside of that part of the edge of the pat nearest 
her.?. The roll is pressed against the edge just enough to hold it in place (see pl. 13, a). 
The thumb is on the exterior, the fingers on the interior of the edge. Usually only 
the first two fingers are used, although the third finger is occasionally brought into 
contact with the paste. Then, as the puki is revolved counterclockwise,*? the rest 
of the roll is pressed against the edge of the pat. If the roll is not long enough 
completely to encircle the pat, another is made and placed on it in a similar manner. 
When the edge has thus been completely encircled, the unused remainder of the 
roll is pinched off and tossed back on the mass of paste on the canvas. The potter 
then pinches the roll more firmly to the edge of the pat. This is done with both 
hands. The thumbs, almost touching, are on the exterior, the fingers on the interior 
of the vessel. The puki is usually moved counterclockwise, although the same 


1T use the words “‘very skillfully” advisedly. Repeated attempts on my part to imitate the process resulted 
in rolls of exceedingly variable diameter. At Zuifii the roll is made by the apparently simpler and more efficient 
method of rolling the clay back and forth on a flat stone slab with one hand (see pl. 29, a). 

2 Zufii potters apply the roll to the outside instead of the inside of the growing vessel wall; otherwise the hand- 
ling of the roll is exactly as at San Ildefonso (see pl. 29, b). 

3 Throughout this report, the puki is spoken of as moving “clockwise”’ or “‘counterclockwise”’ and the sectors 
worked in are referred to the numerals on the face of the clock, as, “the six-to-eight-o’clock sector’. The point 
of view taken is that of the potter with “six o'clock” referring to that part of the bowl nearest her. 


34 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


potter will sometimes revolve it clockwise. During this process of pinching, the 
roll is flattened until it assumes in cross-section the shape of a very much elongated 
ellipse (fig. 6, b). An attempt is made to keep the thickness of the side as nearly 
uniform as possible, and in order to accomplish this it is often necessary for the hands 
to be moved back over a part already flattened. 

The diameter of the rolls, except for cooking-pots, varies from half an inch to 
slightly over an inch, according to the size of the vessel being built, and the in- 
dividual doing the building. When a roll is pressed against the interior of the rim 
of the growing vessel,! from a half to three-quarters of it lies below the level of 
the rim (see fig. 6, a). Then, when the roll is flattened, the junction-plane between 
it and the preceding roll will not be horizontal, but will slope downward sharply 


a c 
b d 
Fic. 6. Diagramatic sections of a bowl on the mould. 
a. Base made and first roll applied to inner side of rim. ce. Second roll applied. 
b. First roll flattened and welded on. d. Second roll flattened and welded on. 


from the exterior (see fig. 6, b, d), thus producing a broad holding surface and 
minimizing the risk of the vessel’s cracking along the junction-plane. In other 
words, the junction-line between any two rolls on the outside wall of the vessel is 
considerably higher than the corresponding line on the inside. The flattened rolls, 
in all but cooking-pots, are from an inch and a half to two inches wide, but because 
of the overlapping just described the distance between the junction-lines is con- 
siderably less (see pl. 13, b, and pl. 15, a). 

During the process of flattening the roll, some potters obliterate the junction- 
line on the exterior by rubbing it with the first and second finger of the right hand, 
and by the addition of small pellets of paste in the more conspicuous indentations. 
Others consider it unnecessary to obliterate this line during the building of the 


1 The “rim” of an unfinished vessel means the upper edge of the last roll added to it. 


MOULDING 35 


vessel, in spite of the fact that the roll may break away because of not being firmly 
welded. Certain women smooth the temporary rim after flattening each roll, 
others do not. When the flattening has been finished, the puki has made a second 
complete revolution, and the junction of the two ends of the roll is again directly 
in front of the potter; but if a few additional touches are required she may again 
shift the puki in one direction or another. No potter pays any attention whatever 
to the location of the junction points of the ends of the rolls; in successive rolls, 
therefore, they may lie directly above one another, or they may be distributed 
about the circumference of the vessel (pl. 13, b). When one roll has been completely 
welded on, flattened out, and incorporated into the vessel, another roll is formed, 
and is applied in exactly the same manner. Thus the building proceeds to the 
height at which the shaping is begun. The steps so far enumerated are the same 
for both bowls and ollas. The further treatment of the vessel varies slightly, 
according to the shape desired. 

Stevenson, describing the moulding of vessels at Zufii, in 1879, wrote: “‘When 
the clayey dough is ready to be used, a sufficient quantity is rolled into a ball. 
The dough, if worked by a careful artist, is first tested as to its fitness for molding 
by putting a piece of the paste to the tongue, the sensitiveness of which is such as 
to detect any gritty substance or particles, when the fingers fail to do so. The 
ball is hollowed out with the fingers into the shape of a bow] (see pl. 29, a), this form 
constituting the foundation for all varieties of earthenware, and assumes the desired 
form by the addition of strips of clay; all traces of the addition of each strip are re- 
moved before another is added,! by the use of a small trowel fashioned from a piece 
of gourd or fragment of pottery, the only tool employed in the manufacture of 
pottery. The bottoms of old water jars and bowls form stands for the articles while 
being worked by the potter” (see pl. 29).? 

Mrs. Stevenson, writing later, also of the Zunis, said: “In beginning the work 
a sufficient quantity is first made into a ball and then hollowed out with the fingers 
until is assumes a conventional bowl shape, which serves as the foundation to be 
afterward built up and elaborated into any desired shape. The vessel is then 
formed by the successive additions of strips of the paste long enough to encircle the 
bowl, each layer being pressed on the brim with the fingers and accurately fitted, 
the trowel being then skillfully used to finish the joining and to remove all traces 
of the original separation of the strips. Most of the work of remodelling the vessel 
into its final shape is done on the inside with a trowel, this implement being used 
on the outside chiefly to smooth the surface. The clay, if it has been properly 
worked, possesses sufficient tenacity and plasticity to admit of being pressed and 
scraped without cracking.” 

The following quotation is of interest as showing how closely modern studio- 
practice, undoubtedly evolved experimentally, resembles Pueblo Indian methods: 
“The clay for building should be rather soft as it is apt to dry quickly on handling. 
A plaster bat (mould) should be made. It is first necessary to roll out the clay into 


1 See, however, pl. 29. b; the Zufii potter in this case has not obliterated the preceding rolls. 
2 Stevenson, 1883, p. 331. 
3M. C. Stevenson, 1904, p. 375. 


36 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


cords which should be a little thicker than the proposed walls are to be. These 
cords should be as uniform as possible and should be rolled quickly to avoid undue 
hardening. It is best to roll them as required. A roll of clay is taken, one end 
laid in the center of the bat and the rest is coiled around it in a spiral line. When 
the disc so formed has reached the proper size, the coils are gently rubbed over 
with the fingers until they have thoroughly united and the lines of the spiral have 
disappeared. The clay disc may now be turned over and the rubbing continued 
on the other side. The circle is cut true and a new coil is laid on the outer edge, 
thus making a shallow circular tray. In raising the walls it is best to pinch off the 
roll of clay when one circle has been completed, and the new roll should be begun 
at another point so that all the joints will not be at the same place. This plan is 
better than coiling a long roll in a spiral, for in this case one side of the piece will 
be higher than the other. 

“After three rolls have been laid in position, the wall, both inside and out, 
should be worked like the bottom so that the rolls will disappear and the clay be 
welded uniformly together. This should be done without water or with as little as 
possible. The use of water is very tempting. It makes the clay so smooth and 
seems to help, but it will inevitably make the work sloppy and will tend to soften 
the walls. 

“After three or four rolls have been worked in, the piece should be laid aside 
for some hours to stiffen. If this be not done the weight of the second building 
will cause the work to sag and fall out of shape. For this reason it is well to have 
two or three pieces in hand at once so that there need be no waiting. When the 
cylinder is of sufficient height it should be allowed to become quite stiff and then 
the irregularities should be corrected with a little soft clay which is worked into 
the joints. The whole surface may now be gone over with tools and brought to 
the required finish.”’! 

Before describing in detail the moulding of the various sorts of vessels, the 
accidents which are associated with this process should be discussed. These may 
result from one of two causes, the presence of foreign matter in the paste or imperfect 
moulding. 

If the clay has been carefully sifted, as it usually is, there should be very little 
foreign matter in the paste. It is, however, impossible to remove entirely all gravel 
or stones fragment. If gravel is allowed to remain, it will cause the vessel-walls 
to scale during firing because of the difference in the rates of expansion under heat 
of stone and paste. In order to prevent this, the potter while moulding is con- 
stantly on the lookout for these small particles, which may be discovered at any 
stage of the work. They are at once picked out of the vessel, even if it is all but 
finished. The irregular hollow formed is then filled with a small pellet of fresh 
paste and smoothed over. The women say that a bit of hard clay does not cause 
flaking as does a piece of gravel or a stone splinter. Another kind of foreign matter 
is an air-bubble, which if left in the vessel will cause the same form of accident, 
because of the difference in the rates of expansion of air and clay. In order to 
eliminate these small air-bubbles, the pat is pressed down hard upon the puki 

1 Binns, 1910, pp. 69-71. 


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MOULDING 37 


and the rolls are carefully pinched at every point about the vessel. A_ skillful 
potter is able to feel an air-bubble even if it is covered with a layer of clay: such 
a bubble is pricked and the resulting hollow is filled as before. 

If the moulding is imperfect, that is, if the rolls are not carefully welded, a 
weak spot occurs at the junction, which probably contains a thin layer of air. 
When the vessel is fired, it cracks along this line and is ruined. Such accidents 
seem to occur most commonly at the bases of large vessels, either because the first 
roll was not sufficiently welded to the base, or because the pat itself was not pressed 
into the puki with sufficient force. Since flaws between the rolls cannot be dis- 
covered until the firing, they cannot be corrected as in the case of foreign bodies 
in the clay. 


Bowls 


From two to eight rolls may be used to form a bowl, according to its destined 
size and shape. When the building has been completed, the piece is in the form of 
a cylinder, with sides either vertical or very slightly flaring (pl. 12, b, 2, and pl. 13, b). 
As a rule the fingerprints and the irregular horizontal junction-lines may be seen 
both on the interior and exterior. The next step is the finishing of the temporary 
rim. This is done with the right hand, the fingers of which assume much the same 
position that they would for holding a pencil (pl. 14, a). The thumb is on the interior 
of the rim, the forefinger on the top, and the middle finger on the outer edge. The 
thumb and middle finger are used as guides to help keep the rim uniform in thick- 
ness. The forefinger removes the paste from the higher parts of the rim and trans- 
fers it to the hollows. The fingers do not move with respect to each other except 
to exert slight pressure. The play of the right hand during this process is a gliding 
backward-forward motion repeated many times, while at the same time the puki 
is usually kept revolving counterclockwise by the left hand, which also is generally 
but not always, used to steady the side of the vessel. Occasionally the same potter 
will turn the puki clockwise. In the former case the right hand is kept in the 
twelve-to-two-o’clock sector; in the latter in the six-to-eight-o’clock sector. If the 
rim is smoothed hastily, as it sometimes is at this stage, the puki may not be turned 
at all. This completes the building of the bowl, which is then set aside for a few 
minutes, while another is begun. 

The next step is the shaping. This is done with a kajepe, or gourd spoon. 
The kajepe should always be damp when used, and for that reason is often kept 
in the water-pail. It is somewhat difficult to describe in detail the use of the 
kajepe, for no two potters work with it in exactly the same way. Often the same 
potter will show variations in her method of handling the tool. 

Each woman has from four to a dozen kajepes beside her while she is moulding. 
These implements vary much both in size and shape (pl. 11). Most of them are 
circular or elliptical with all edges convex, although every potter has at least one 
with a concave edge. Generally the smaller, circular kajepes are used on the interior 
of bowls, the oval ones on the exterior, and the one with a concave edge on the 
exterior at the shoulder, where it would be difficult to use the other types. As a 
rule the larger kajepes serve for the larger vessels. A potter occasionally changes 


38 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


kajepes in the midst of her work, usually because of the edge, which may be rougher 
on one than on another. The kajepes are held at an angle of from thirty to sixty 
degrees to the tangent of the bowl at the point of contact, according to the curva- 
ture of the part of the vessel being worked upon. 

The kajepe is always used first on the inside. This is done in order to press 
out the sides and to give the bowl something of its final shape before the paste 
becomes too dry. The work begins at the bottom of the vessel and slowly advances 
toward the top; the bowl gradually assumes a spherical shape, the sides being 
forced farthest out about half way between the base and the rim. During this 
process the outside surface, since it is being expanded, begins to show innumerable 
small cracks. The strokes of the kajepe on the interior are short and always nearly 
horizontal, the implement being pulled towards the body. During this first use 
of the kajepe all traces of the junction-lines between the rolls are removed from the 
inside of the vessel. The tool is always held in the right hand, and the left hand, 
which is constantly used on the exterior as a brace and stop, is placed directly 
opposite the spot on the inside which is being worked. One woman scrapes in the 
seven-to-ten-o’clock sector, turning the bowl clockwise; that is, working from the 
scraped to the unscraped surface. The vessel is turned through about sixty degrees 
at each change of position, and about a third of the surface just scraped is gone 
over again by the strokes on the new sector. Another works in the nine-to-twelve- 
o'clock sector, turning the bowl counterclockwise, that is, working from unscraped 
to scraped surface; in doing this she turns the puki five or six times through an 
angle of between sixty and eighty degrees for each turn, before the entire interior 
has been gone over. 

The kajepe is then applied to the exterior of the bowl (pl. 14, b). The concave 
surface of the kajepe is preferred for the first of the exterior scraping, although the 
convex surface is not infrequently used. The strokes begin again at the base. At 
first, when the kajepe comes in contact with the puki, the strokes are very nearly 
vertical. A little higher on the bowl they become diagonal. Near the rim the strokes 
are almost horizontal, but still have a perceptible downward slant. The kajepe is 
always pulled toward the body. The stroke on the exterior is from four to five 
inches, generally a little longer than that on the interior. During this step one 
woman turns the puki counterclockwise, working in the two-to-four-o’clock sector; 
another turns it in the same direction, but works in the four-to-six-o’clock sector. 
In both cases the strokes are from the scraped to the unscraped surface. Although 
the larger portion of the actual shaping of the bowl is done from the interior, the 
drawing in of the upper part to form a constricted mouth is done with the kajepe on 
the exterior, when the step last described is nearing completion. As when working 
on the interior, the left hand again acts as a brace and a stop, but this time on the 
inside of the bowl! Usually only the ends of the fingers rest against the side. Upon 
the completion of the use of the kajepe on the outside for the first time, all traces of 
the coil-marks and of the fine cracks developed during the interior scraping are 
removed, but the surface is still rather rough (pl. 14, b; also 12, b, 3). After both 
surfaces have been gone over for the first time with the kajepe, the rim is once more 


1 The process is identical at Zufii, see pl. 30, a. 


MOULDING 39 


trued up in the manner already described. Then, depending upon the stiffness of 
the paste, the piece may be set aside to harden a little or the work may continue 
without interruption. 

The women hold the kajepe with fingers either slightly bent, or nearly fully 
flexed; in the latter position the tool is grasped between the thumb and bent fore- 
finger. Just before using, the kajepe is dipped in water; and the edge is then drawn 
across the palm of the left hand to remove excess water before it is applied to the 
bowl. After perhaps a dozen strokes, the paste which has collected on the tool is 
removed by a dexterous motion: the inner side of the thumb of the left hand is run 
along the edge of the kajepe to collect the paste; then the inner side of the fore- 
finger of the same hand is run from the base to the tip of the thumb. This brings 
the paste to the ends of the two fingers in the form of a pellet, which is thrown upon 
the mass on the canvas. Since the paste has a tendency to stick to the fingers, the 
potter must throw it with a jerk or snap. 

When the kajepe has been used once over the entire surface, it is usually re- 
versed so as to present its convex side to the bowl, made a little damper than for the 
previous scraping, and the whole process repeated in detail for both the interior 
and exterior. This results in better symmetry and a smoother surface. The rim 
is again finished in the manner already described. The walls of the bowl have by 
this time been thinned to about one-half or two-thirds of their original thickness, 
all major irregularities and rough spots have been removed, the vessel is fully 
shaped, and only the finishing touches are needed before it is ready to be sun-dried. 
The paste now has the consistency of soft thick leather. 

The first step in the finishing sometimes consists in again going over both sur- 
faces with a wet kajepe, to smooth them still more. Occasionally only the exterior 
is so treated. Then the bowl is turned repeatedly, while the potter touches small 
areas with the convex surface of the kajepe. At this point particular attention is 
given to the bottom of the interior; it may be retouched with the kajepe, or simply 
smoothed over with the ball of the thumb or forefinger. If the surface seems 
slightly uneven, small pellets of paste are rubbed into the bottom and then levelled 
down with the kajepe. The bowl on the puki is then placed upon the palm of the 
left hand, held at eye level, and revolved slowly, while the potter examines it for 
rough spots and slight irregularities of contour, which when found are smoothed 
over with the forefinger of the right hand. After being replaced upon the floor, the 
bowl may be gently pressed between the hands in order slightly to improve its 
symmetry. Finally the rim is smoothed for the last time, little pellets of paste being 
added, if necessary, to fill in shallow depressions, and great care is taken to make it 
as regular and smooth as possible. It is obviously impossible to describe in detail 
the exact procedure followed in this finishing process, for the method adopted is 
chosen according to the needs of the individual vessel. After all this is done, the 
piece is ready to be sun-dried. Its present appearance is very different from that 
which it had when the building was completed (compare pl. 12, b, 2, and b, 3). 

The moulding of bowls less than four inches in diameter is a very simple matter 
compared with that of the larger ones, for there is no use of puki, rolls, or kajepe. 
After working the paste in the hands the resulting lump is formed into a flat spheroid. 


40 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


The forefinger of the right hand is inserted in the centre of this, the clay held 
horizontally and slowly revolved by a slight tossing rotary motion of the left hand. 
The forefinger of the right hand enlarges the hole and gradually shapes the mass 
into the desired form, thinning the sides at the same time. If the resulting bowl is 
too high, the rim is pinched off with the thumb and fore-finger of the right hand. 
When the proper shape and thickness have been attained, the little bowl is held up- 
right in the left hand, while the fingers of the right smooth the sides and the rim. 
When completed it is set on a board to dry. Sometimes one of the larger of these 
bowls is placed in a small puki and reshaped with the kajepe. One woman used the 
kajepe on the interior of the vessel while it rested upon her left hand. The bowl, 
when treated in this way, and finished in the same manner as the larger bowls, 
was noticeably a better piece of moulding than the average small piece. 

The time consumed in moulding bowls is variable, depending on the dexterity 
and speed of the potter and to a somewhat lesser degree upon the sort of vessel 
being moulded. Comparisons between potters are apt to be misleading, for no two 
make bowls of exactly the same size or exercise the same amount of care in finishing, 
which, from the point of view of time consumed, is the most variable phase of the 
moulding. One potter moulded a wide-mouthed bowl of four rolls in twenty min- 
utes; another finished two spherical bowls of six rolls each in forty-eight minutes; a 
third potter, the swiftest of the three, finished a wide-mouthed bowl of two rolls 
after it had been under her hands just fourteen and one-half minutes. The first 
potter moulded six of the small bowls (less than four inches in diameter) in fifty-five 
minutes, averaging nine minutes to each, but to refinish one of them with a kajepe 
she took thirteen minutes. The third potter moulded one of the small type of bowls 
in four minutes. 

In considering in detail the time consumed in moulding, the work of Maria 
Martinez was studied. She is the swiftest and most dexterous potter of San IIlde- 
fonso, and moulds in a quarter to a third less time than the slowest of the others. 
In three hours she turned out ten bowls, averaging about seven inches in diameter, 
of the constricted-mouthed and similar types; this is an average of one in eighteen 
minutes. She was working constantly, first on one, then on another. Subsequently 
she moulded six two-roll constricted-mouthed bowls in one hour and twenty- 
six minutes, an average of fourteen and a third minutes each. The various steps in 
the moulding of two bowls are recorded in Table I, which gives the actual time con- 
sumed in minutes and seconds from the beginning of the first of the pair until the 
two were finished and set aside. In Table II the growth and treatment of a single 
bowl are given in more detail, with the time in minutes and seconds that it was 
under the hands of the potter. This piece was one of five constricted-mouthed 
bowls of three rolls each which were moulded in sixty-four minutes, an average of 
twelve minutes, forty-eight seconds for each vessel. 


MOULDING 


TABLE I 


Bowl A, constricted-mouthed bowl, diam. 8 in.; Bowl B, wide-mouthed bowl, diam. 7 in. 


Min. Sec. 
0.00 Bowl A — clay picked up from pile 
2.00 — pat in puki and pinched up 
4.30 3.00 ae — first roll on and pinched flat 
4.00 ** “second roll on and pinched flat 
4.30 ** ** rim smoothed and bowl set aside 
(no pause) 
4.30 Bowl B — clay picked up from pile 
5.30 — pat in puki and pinched up 
6220. 7 a — first roll on and pinched flat 
7.10 ** “second roll on and pinched flat 
7.20 ““ **__ rim smoothed and bowl set aside 
(pause of 40 seconds) 
8.00 Bowl A— picked up again 
| 8.30 ** __ interior scraping stopped 
9.15 ‘“* ** __ exterior scraping stopped 
9.45 ““ “* __ first rim smoothing stopped 
11.00 ““ “__ first interior smoothing stopped 
8.00 Pie3o “ “* __ first exterior smoothing stopped 
12.45 ** **__ second rim smoothing stopped 
13.45 **  ** __ second interior smoothing stopped 
14.30 ** **__ second exterior smoothing stopped 
15.15 “ “__ third rim smoothing stopped 
16.00 ** “ __ finishing touches stopped; bowl completed 
(pause of 15 seconds) 
16.15 Bowl B — picked up again 
| 16.45 — interior scraping stopped 
; 17.00 ** “__ exterior scraping stopped 
18.00 “*  ** __ first rim smoothing stopped 
18.30 **  “* __ first interior smoothing stopped 
5.05 19.00 *“  **__ second rim smoothing stopped 
19.45 **  ** __ second interior smoothing stopped 
20.45 * **__ touching up stopped 
21.00 “third rim smoothing stopped 
21.15 ““ “third interior smoothing stopped 
21.20 “bowl completed 


Total, Bowl A — 12 minutes, 30 seconds 
Total, Bowl B— 7 minutes, 55 seconds 


42 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


TABLE II 


Small, constricted-mouthed bowl 
Min. Sec. 
00.00 — clay picked up from pile 
00.15 — pat put in puki 
01.00 — clay for first roll picked up 
01.15 — one end of first roll pinched on pat 
01.50 — first roll flattened, and clay for second roll picked up 
02.10 — one end of second roll pinched on pat 
02.40 — second roll flattened, and clay for third roll picked up 
02.50 — one end of third roll pinched on pat 
03.30 — third roll flattened, and rim smoothing begun 
03.50 — bow] set aside 


(14 minutes, 10 seconds, elapsed) 
03.50 — interior kajepe-scraping begun 
04.25 — exterior kajepe-scraping begun 
04.55 — rim smoothing begun 
05 .20 — bow] set aside 

(18 minutes, 30 seconds, elapsed) 


05.20 — interior kajepe-smoothing begun 

06.00 — small roll placed around edge of interior base and patted down 
06.40 — interior kajepe-smoothing begun 

06.55 — exterior kajepe-smoothing begun, lip turned in 

07.45 — rim smoothing begun 

08 .50 — exterior kajepe-smoothing begun 

09.25 — interior kajepe-smoothing begun 

10.05 — rim smoothing begun 

10.50 — bowl held at eye level, exterior kajepe-smoothing begun 
11.17 — bowl placed on floor, interior kajepe-smoothing begun 
11.45 — moulding completed, bow] set aside 


OLLAS 


In the moulding of ollas the first step is the building of the lower part of the 
body to a height of four or five rings in the same manner as in bowl-construction. 
Since ollas have a larger diameter than bowls, more than one roll is needed to form 
a complete ring about the growing edge. The number of rolls per ring varies from 
one and a half to four, depending upon the size of the olla and the part worked upon. 
When this first building has been completed (pl. 15, a), the rim is smoothed some- 
what and the scraping and shaping are at once begun. 

The use of the kajepe in the shaping of ollas is identical in all details with that 
described above in discussing the moulding of bowls. The roll-junctions and the 
fingerprints are entirely removed and the sides of the vessel are flared a little. 
Great care is taken not to flare the sides too much, for the paste at this stage is still 
rather soft, and if the sides are flared unduly they collapse outward of their own 
weight. When the preliminary shaping has been finished the rim is smoothed a 


PLATE 15 


SUCCESSIVE STAGES IN THE MOULDING OF AN OLLA 


a. Lower wall built up of rings of clay. b. Sides smoothed and flared by use of the kajepe. ec. Sides 
further flared and more carefully smoothed. d. Shoulder partly formed. e. Shoulder finished. f. Neck built. 
g, h. Neck flared and final smoothing completed; the vessels have been shifted inthe moulds to allow work on 
lower sides. 


i 
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Smit 
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f < 
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, 
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MOULDING 43 


little, and the olla is placed in the sun to stiffen. The moulding has now reached 
the second stage (pl. 15, b). 

The vessel remains in the sun from twenty to thirty minutes. This period may 
be extended to as much as an hour and a half, if the vessel is in the shade or if other 
things occupy the potter’s time. During all the drying periods, at intervals varying 
from five to fifteen minutes, the potter dips her right hand in the water of the lard- 
pail, and moistens the rim of the partly finished olla in order to keep it soft enough 
to permit perfect welding when additional rolls are added. While one vessel 
is drying, the potter is usually occupied with another. In case the work on the 
latter is finished before the former is dry enough, the potter simply waits, or finds 
some other work with which to occupy herself until it is ready. 

The test of the condition of the olla after this short drying is to pat the side 
gently with the balls of the fingers. The clay is now very much like soft leather. 
The degree of resistance offered by the side indicates the condition of the paste. 
Of course the value of such a test depends entirely upon the knowledge and sense 
of touch possessed by the potter, two qualities which can be gained only through 
long experience. 

When the paste in the olla, which now has the shape of an open-mouthed 
bowl, has reached the proper degree of firmness, the vessel is brought in and the 
shaping continued. By using the kajepe first on the interior and then on the 
exterior, the sides are flared still more until the desired shape for the lower part of 
the olla has been obtained. Then, after a hasty smoothing of the rim, the vessel, 
now in the third stage (pl. 15,c), is again set aside to dry. When it has become firm 
enough to support the weight of the new rolls to be added, the building is con- 
tinued. The temporary rim has been kept soft by the application of water from 
time to time. The method of preparing this rim for the application of the rings 
varies slightly with different potters. The rim may be pinched into scallops be- 
tween the thumb and forefinger of either hand, usually the right, or it may be 
roughened by vertical strokes of the kajepe on the exterior. In the former case the 
scallops may touch one another (pl. 16, a), or they may be separated by a quarter 
to a half inch of unpinched rim. When the kajepe is used, it also destroys the 
original smoothness of the rim, producing an irregular, broken surface to which 
the new roll can easily be welded. 

The potter must now build that part of the olla which has the greatest diameter. 
Each new ring of clay must therefore be of greater diameter than those which pre- 
ceded and those which will follow. Three or four rather slender rolls are used to 
make such a ring. After two complete rings have been placed on the vessel and 
flattened, the shaping is begun. Gradually the new rim is drawn in until the 
shoulder of the olla has been formed. Again the rim is smoothed before the vessel 
is set aside. The moulding of the olla has now reached the fourth stage (pl. 15, d). 

The olla is once more allowed to dry for about the same length of time as 
before. During these successive dryings the presence or absence of wind plays a 
considerable part in the length of time the vessel is allowed to remain in the sun; for 
a stiff breeze will dry the paste almost as quickly as the sun itself. The potters do 
not like to mould ollas when there is much wind because the paste dries so quickly 


44 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


that the vessel is ready to be taken up again before the second vessel, upon which 
the potter is working, is ready to set aside. Occasionally, but by no means always, 
the drying olla is turned so as to present a fresh section of the side to the sun. 

After testing with the hand the newly built part of the olla, to determine its 
firmness, the vessel, if sufficiently dried, is taken to the work-board and the building 
continued. The pinching of the rim is done as before, two more rings are added, 
and their shaping is begun. The rolls decrease very slowly in diameter. In shap- 
ing with the kajepe only the newly added section of the vessel is treated. At this 
stage the work becomes more difficult, for the two rings just added form the lower 
part of the neck of the olla, and therefore constrict the mouth of the partly finished 
vessel. If the paste is a little too soft, the newly built section will sag when the 
shaping is begun. The vessel must then be set aside at once until it reaches the 
proper degree of stiffness. While using the kajepe on the exterior, during this 
stage of the construction, the left hand is held inside the vessel not only as a brace 
or stop, but also as a support for the incurving side. When the scraping and smooth- 
ing have been finished, and the side has been given the proper curve, the rim is 
smoothed a little before the vessel, now in the fifth stage (pl. 15, e), is again set 
aside. 

Half an hour or so later the building of the olla is completed by the addition of 
one more ring. The rolls composing this ring are distinctly more slender than the 
first rolls used in the vessel. When this ring has been applied the rim is cursorily 
smoothed and the last shaping begun. The final delicate contour of the vessel 
depends to a large extent upon this final shaping near the rim. The kajepe is used 
with painstaking care, and the work progresses slowly. <A slight outward flare is 
given to the lip by careful manipulation of the kajepe on the interior. When this 
is completed, the olla has reached the sixth stage (pl. 15, f). 

The finishing touches consist largely in going over the rim carefully and adding 
pellets of paste when necessary, thus making its curve as nearly uniform as possible. 
This process consumes a considerable amount of time, for the work is done very 
painstakingly and slowly (pl. 17, a). The vessel has now attained its final shape 
(pl. 15, g and h), and for the last time is set out in the sun to dry. 

The time taken to mould an olla is far greater than that necessary for a bowl. 
The type of olla shown in the illustrations is about fourteen inches in diameter at 
the shoulder. The potter who made these counted on moulding two such ollas each 
day. On some days a little time was left in the afternoon in which to make some 
smaller vessels, but no olla was ever begun in the afternoon. Ollas were usually 
started between ten and eleven o’clock in the morning and finished between half- 
past-three and half-past-four in the afternoon. During the early morning the house- 
hold tasks had to be attended to; at noon about an hour was used in preparing and 
eating lunch; and at various times during the day the children, especially the baby, 
made it necessary for the potter to leave her work. Table III, columns A and B, 
gives in detail the various steps in the construction of two ollas, together with the 
time each vessel was actually under the hands of the potter and the length of the 
intervals in which the vessel was drying; columns C and D record two other ollas on 
which the observations were less complete. As a rule it requires one and a half 


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MOULDING 45 


hours’ work to mould an olla. In the case of olla A, the potter was unfortunate in 
misjudging the proper consistency of the paste, which delayed the construction of 
this vessel an entire half-hour, omitting the periods of additional drying. The two 
ollas were begun at eleven o’clock in the morning; the second of the two was set 
aside completed at eight minutes past four in the afternoon. 

It is said that it requires one whole day, and sometimes two, to mould a single 
very large olla. The process is identical with that just described. In the case of 
small ollas (such as those seen in pl. 18, a) a single period of drying elapses between 
the construction of the body and that of the neck. These small ollas can be moulded 
in a little less than twice the time taken for a bowl of about the same diameter. 


TABLE III 
A B C D 
Min. Sec. Min. Sec. Min. Sec. Min. Sec. 
First clay picked up 00.00 00.00 00.00 00.00 
Pat placed in puki 04.00 04.00 
Second handful of clay picked up 04.30 05.30 
First roll added 05 .00 06.00 
First ring flattened, second begun 06.45 08.30 
Second ring flattened, third begun 09.00 10.00 
Third ring flattened, fourth begun 11.30 12.30 
Fourth ring flattened, fifth begun 15.00 16.45 
Fifth ring flattened (Stage I, pl. 15, a), inside scraping 
begun 18.30 20.00 
Exterior scraping begun 21.00 21.30 
Rim smoothed and interior scraping begun 23 .00 24.00 
Rim smoothing begun 25 .00 27 .30 
Set aside (Stage II, pl. 15, b) 26.00 29.00 
Time out 34.00 24.30 
Interior smoothing, then exterior 26.00 29 .00 
Set aside (Stage III, pl. 15, c) 33.00 32.30 
Time out 53.00 59.00 
Pinching of rim begun 33.00 32.30 33.00 33.00 
Pinching of rim completed 34.15 33.30 
First roll made 35 .00 34.15 
First roll pinched on, second begun 35 .30 34.30 
Second roll pinched on, flattening begun 39.45 36.30 
First ring flattened 41.00 37.30 37.00 
Second ring flattened, rim smoothing begun 45 .00 41.30 41.00 
Interior scraping begun 45 .30 42.00 42.00 
Exterior scraping begun 50.00 45 .00 45 .00 
Rim smoothing begun 52.00 47.00 
Interior smoothing begun 53.30 48 .30 47.00 
Exterior smoothing begun 55.00 49 .30 52.00 
Rim smoothing begun 57.00 50.15 
Set aside (Stage IV, pl. 15, d) 58.00 50.45 54.00 55.00 
Time out 27.00 20.45 28 .00 68.00 
Pinching of rim begun 58.00 50.45 54.00 55.00 
Pinching of rim completed 58.45 51.15 
First roll completed 59.30 52.00 


First ring flattened, second begun 64.00 56.45 


46 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


A B C D 
Min. Sec. Min. Sec. Min. Sec. Min. Sec. 
Second ring on 66.15 59.45 
Second ring flattened, rim smoothing begun 67.15 60.30 61.00 
Exterior scraping begun 68.00 60.45 61.15 
Interior scraping begun 70.00 omitted omitted omitted 
Set aside (clay too soft) 70.30 e * i 
Rim smoothing begun omitted 63.00 + es 
Set aside omitted 63.45 a e 
Time out 13.45 17.00 a 
Interior scraping begun 70.30 63.45 64.00 
Exterior smoothing begun 75.15 69.15 
Rim smoothing begun 715 71.45 
Set aside (Stage V, pl. 15, e) 79.15 73.30 69.00 67.00 
Time out 18:00, pels 68 .00 42.00 
Interior smoothing begun 79.15 omitted omitted omitted 
Exterior smoothing begun 83.45 Ss ss t. 
Rim smoothing begun 84.15 a * rf 
Set aside 84.45 rs - ee 
Time out 33.00 i 
Interior smoothing begun 84.45 tc *: 
Exterior smoothing begun 88.00 % . es 
Set aside 89 .45 - iS 
Time out 21.00 ~ Gy = 
Pinching of rim begun 89.45 73.30 69.00 67.00 
First roll put on 92.45 75.00 
Ring flattened, rim smoothed, exterior scraping begun 94.45 Tieou 73.00 
Interior scraping begun 97.45 79 .00 76.00 
Exterior smoothing begun 100.15 81.30 
Interior smoothing begun (Stage VI, pl. 15, f) 101.45 83.00 
Exterior smoothing begun 102.45 omitted omitted omitted 
Rim smoothing begun 103.30 84.30 84.00 83.00 
Set aside (clay in rim too soft) 105.15 omitted omitted omitted 
Time out 16.30 a: us : 
Interior and exterior smoothing begun omitted 5: ie 87.00 
Rim finishing begun 105.15 90.30 91.00 
Vessel completed (Stage VII, pl. 15, g, h) 119.45 94.30 93.00 98.00 


Total elapsed time from beginning: Ollas A and B, 5 hours, 7 minutes, 30 seconds; Ollas C 
and D, about 5 hours. 


CooKING-VESSELS 


The clay forming the paste of these pieces is called Apache clay, and is very 
different from that employed in making ordinary ware (see p. 22); it is used without 
the addition of any tempering material. 

Just before moulding is started, the clay is carefully gone over in a final search 
for small pebbles. The moulding differs only in detail from that of vessels made 
from other kinds of paste. A pat very much thinner than those described above is 
made and placed in the puki. The vessel is built by the addition of rolls which are 
of smaller diameter than usual — about three-eighths of an inch. When the body 
has been built to the desired height, the scraping and smoothing with the kajepe are 
begun. At first the vessel, like the others, is cylindrical; but the scraping, first on the 


PLATE 17 


a. Putting the finishing touches on an olla. The potter’s left hand is supporting the soft neck while she shapes 
it'from the outside with the kajepe. In front is a pile of base-moulds (pukis) for small bowls; at the potter’s right is 
a lard-pail of water and a reserve supply of clay wrapped in a canvas. 

b. Applying a horizontal handle to a small olla; two gourd spoons (kajepes) are lying on the table. 


MOULDING 47 


interior and then on the exterior, thins the sides and gives it a spherical shape. After 
the smoothing the sides are from one-eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch thick, 
much thinner than the walls of vessels made of other kinds of paste. When the 
body has assumed the desired shape, additional rolls are added to form the lip, 
which is scraped, smoothed, and flared with the kajepe. During the entire period of 
moulding small pebbles are constantly being found and removed, for Apache clay 
contains a great many more pebbles than the other clays. After the finishing 
touches have been completed, the rim is indented, and a vertical handle is added as 
described below (see p. 50). 

The indenting of the rim is done with the thumb and forefinger of the right 
hand. The thumb is placed under the flaring rim, with the nail vertical; the fore- 
finger rests upon the lip, the nail horizontal. The fingers are in about the position 
they would assume were the potter holding a pencil. A gentle downward pressure 
of the hand indents the rim slightly, the nail of the thumb leaving a small mark on 
the under side of the lip. This pressure is repeated at intervals of about three- 
quarters of an inch until the entire lip has been given an indented or undulating edge. 

The construction described above is that of a small olla about six inches in 
diameter. Larger ollas are built in several stages in the same manner as ollas made 
of the other forms of paste. 

The time consumed in the moulding of cooking vessels was noted in only one 
case. Six rolls were used for the body and two for the lip. Before the kajepe was 
used for the first time the cylindrical body was five inches in diameter and four and 
a half inches high. Table IV gives the time of construction, divided according to 
the various steps of the work. 


TABLE IV 
Min. Sec. 
00.00 — Kneading of small handful of clay to eliminate pebbles begun 
04.00 — Pat placed in puki, kneading of clay for rolls begun 
12.00 — Making of first roll begun 
19.00 — Six rolls added and flattened, interior scraping begun 
20.30 — Exterior scraping begun, later interior smoothing begun, followed shortly 
by exterior smoothing 
26.00 — Seventh roll added 
29.00 — Eighth roll flattened and interior smoothing begun 
29.30 — Exterior smoothing begun 
32.00 — Rim smoothing begun 
38.00 — Finishing touches begun, followed by indenting rim 
46 .00 — Moulding completed, vessel set aside 
9.00 — Time out 
46.00 — Work upon handle begun 
49 .00 — Handle finished, vessel completed 


1 From the earliest periods Southwestern pottery has been made in more or less the manner just described, 
that is, by the addition of successive rings of clay. During prehistoric times, however, there was developed a ware 
usually known as “corrugated”, in the building of which the roll was so lengthened as to become a spiral coil. 
The roll of paste forming the coil was very thin, averaging a little over one-quarter of an inch in diameter; and it 
was applied to the outside of the temporary rim, as at Zufii (see pl. 29, b), instead of to the inside, as at San Ilde- 
fonso. Furthermore, the junctions between the coils were not obliterated on the exterior of the vessel, thus producing 
a ridged or currugated effect. Corrugated pottery was principally used for cooking pots (see Holmes, 1886, p. 273). 


48 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


PRAYER-MEAL BowLs 


Prayer-meal bowls are of two sorts, bowl-shaped with a terraced elevation on 
one side of the rim, and rectangular, or box-like, with a terraced elevation at either 
end. In the construction of a rectangular prayer-meal bowl, no puki is employed. 
The pat, either circular or rectangular in shape, is made as usual. It is placed upon 
a board, care being taken to press it down hard, and the rectangular shape is ac- 
centuated by the pinching up of the edge. A thin layer of temper may, or may not, 
be sprinkled on the board before the pat is placed upon it. To this pat are added 
two or three rolls in the manner already described. When it is desired to turn the 
vessel, the board upon which it rests is turned. The board is either held in the lap 
or rests on the top of a low stool. In scraping and shaping the vessel one potter 
began to use the kajepe on the exterior first, then proceeded to the interior; another 
reversed the process. The stroke on the exterior is vertical at the corners and 
nearly horizontal on the sides; on the interior it is nearly horizontal. When the 
building of the vessel has been completed, the rim is smoothed, and the corners 


My 


Fic. 7. The three stages in making the terraced end of a prayer-meal bowl: a. End built to full height. 
b. Notches cut with a taut string. c. Bits of clay removed from the notches and edges of terracing smoothed down. 


made straight. The bowl may be pressed lightly between the hands to improve 
the symmetry and to make all the corners more nearly right angles; it is then set 
aside for a while. 

The next step is the construction of the terraced ends. A single short roll is 
attached to the interior of the rim at one end. This roll is pressed flat, and smoothed 
with the kajepe, first on the interior and then on the exterior. The sharp edges are 
softened, the rim is smoothed, and the junctions of this new portion with the sides 
are rounded off. The result is a flattened semicircular vertical projection at the 
end (see fig. 7, a). The other end is then treated in the same manner. The bowl 
is now ready to have the terraces put in. There are two methods of doing this. 
One potter uses a long string in making the first marks. The string is stretched 
taut horizontally, parallel to the length of the bowl. It is then pressed lightly on 
both ends at the same time, first on one side of the centre, then on the other. The 
distance between the hands is next shortened, and two notches are cut on either side 
of the centre of the end with this string, which is still held horizontally. Similar 
notches are cut in the other end. Each end of the bowl is now as shown in fig. 7, b. 


MOULDING 49 


Another potter does not make the initial marks in the two ends simultaneously. 
Holding the end of the bowl towards her, she lightly marks the lines to be cut with 
her fingernail. Then, picking up the string and following the marks made by her 
fingernail, the notches are cut in the way described. 

As soon as the notches have been cut, the small triangular pieces of clay are 
removed, the edges rounded with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, and 
the corners made into curves. Small pellets of clay may be added if necessary. 
After a few finishing touches with the forefinger the terracing of the ends of the 
bowl is completed (see fig. 7, ¢).} 

The time consumed by the swiftest potter of the village, in moulding an un- 
usually large prayer-meal bowl, is recorded in Table V. The piece was seven and a 
half inches long, four and three-quarters inches wide, and three and a half inches 
high. The terraces raised the ends one and three-quarters inches more. 


TABLE V 
Min. Sec. 
00.00 — First handful of paste for the bowl picked up 
08.00 — Two rolls put on the pat and flattened, the rim smoothed and interior 
scraping begun (exterior scraping done later) 
22.00 — Moulding of the bowl itself completed, after some time spent in pressing 
down the pat on the interior of the bowl. Vessel set aside 
22.00 — Time out 
22.00 — Interior and exterior smoothing begun 
26.00 — Paste picked up for roll to be placed on one end of bowl 
29 .45 — Roll flattened and smoothing of edges begun 
30.30 — Interior scraping begun 
31.10 — Exterior scraping begun 
31.45 — Smoothing of connection with sides begun 
32.30 — Roll placed on other end 
33.45 — Roll flattened and interior scraping begun 
34.15 — Exterior scraping begun 
34.45 — Very small roll placed on first end to improve curve, followed by a little 
smoothing with kajepe 
35.45 — Finishing of end begun 
37.30 — Marking of one end with fingernail begun 
38.15 — Notches cut with thread, pieces removed, and finishing of terrace begun 
40.15 — Marking of other end with fingernail begun 
40.35 — Cutting of notches with thread begun 
41.05 — Pieces removed and finishing of terrace begun 
43.15 — Finishing completed 


DOUBLE-MOUTHED VASES 


The first step in the construction of this type of vessel is the moulding of an 
open-mouthed bowl. Across the mouth of this bowl a clay bridge is placed. Finish- 
ing touches are given at this stage of the work, just as if the moulding had been 
entirely completed. The piece is set aside for a while to stiffen. 


1 One informant stated that these bowls, both with and without the terraces, were formerly, and are still, 
used to hold sacred meal. 


50 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


Later, additional rolls are added to each half of the mouth of the bowl by 
attaching them to the rim proper and also to the bridge. In this way two necks are 
gradually built up. At regular intervals the work is set aside to stiffen in order that 
it may support the additional weight to be added. The shape and height of the 
two necks depend entirely upon the whim of the potter. The moulding of the upper 
parts of the two necks is a delicate process, and requires considerable skill. The 
roll-marks on the interior of the neck, if obliterated at all, are destroyed by the 
fingers only, since the diameter of the neck is too small to permit the use of a kajepe. 
After the moulding has been entirely finished, a handle connecting the two necks is 
usually put across the top at right angles to the bridge which forms the base of the 
necks. Obviously this handle has a structural as well as ornamental purpose. 1! 


HANDLES 


In all cases in which handles are to be applied the vessel is entirely finished 
before they are put on. The potters of San Ildefonso make three types of handles: 
(1) passing across the top of an open-mouthed bowl, (2) attached vertically to the 
side of a vessel, (3) attached horizontally to the side of a vessel. All three types 
consist of a short roll of paste of the proper length, usually somewhat smaller in 
diameter than the rolls used in the body of the vessel. This roll is slightly flattened 
before it is applied. 

The first two types of handles are placed on the vessel in the same manner. 
The ends of the flattened roll are pinched still flatter. In the case of the handle 
over the top of a bowl, first one end of the roll, then the other, is attached by 
pressure to the exterior of the rim. The vertical handle on the side of a vessel is 
attached first to the exterior of the rim, then bent over and attached to the side 
just above the shoulder. The left hand is used as a stop on the inside of the vessel 
in order that the shape of the side may not be altered by the pressure exerted in 
applying the handle. The junction-lines between the handle and the vessel are 
then obliterated with the forefinger of the right hand. Small pellets of paste may 
be added to the side of the contacts, especially on the inner side of the handle where 
it makes an acute angle with the side of the bowl. In this way the welding is made 
solid, and the curves regular. Finally the curve of the handle itself is made sym- 
metrical. A few finishing touches, such as the obliterating of fine cracks in the 
handle and the smoothing of its surface, complete the process. Such a handle may 
be constructed in three to five minutes. 

Horizontal handles are attached to the sides of vessels in an entirely different 
manner, being keyed or riveted in, rather than merely welded on. Handles of this 
type are usually put on in pairs. The position of one handle is chosen and the rim 
of the finished pot is marked to show its location; by sighting across the top of the 
vessel a point exactly opposite is also marked to give the location of the other. 
For each handle two holes, about three-eighths of an inch in diameter and fairly 
close together, are cut through the side of the vessel from the exterior with a small 


1 The two-mouthed vase is rarely made at San Ildefonso. It is a type more commonly produced by the 
potters of Santa Clara. 


MOULDING 51 


stick. One end of the roll which is to form the handle is inserted in one of the two 
holes. Then the other end is similarly inserted. The left hand holds the first end in 
place on the interior, while the other end is being put in (pl. 17, b). Next the junc- 
tions between the ends of the roll and the interior surface of the vessel are smoothed 
over and obliterated with the fingers of the right hand. The handle itself is flattened 
a little, and small pellets of paste are added at the junctions between it and the 
exterior of the vessel. These are smoothed over with the fingers, so that super- 
ficially the handle looks as if it had been pressed upon the surface in the same man- 
ner as a vertical handle. A smoothing of curves, and touching up of the handles to 
make them symmetrical, form the last stage of the construction. It took one potter 
just an hour to place a pair of handles of this type on a globular bowl.! 


1 Potsherds from pre-Spanish ruins show that handles have been applied to vessels in the ways described above 
for many centuries. The lug-type of handle, which is frequently found in ancient pottery, is no longer made at 
San Ildefonso. The probabilities are, however, that these lugs were welded to the exterior of the vessel, as in the 
first method described, rather than riveted on as in the second method. 


SUN-DRYING 


The purpose of sun-drying is to allow the vessels to harden, and to remove all 
moisture before the work on them is completed. During sun-drying, which im- 
mediately follows moulding, the ability of the vessels to withstand some heat is 
also tested. Pieces made of improperly mixed clay are eliminated at this stage of 
the work, because of the cracks which develop (see under Temper, p. 21). The length 
of time allowed for sun-drying depends upon the weather and also upon the place 
where the vessels are exposed. 

During the dry months of the year, notably in May and June, vessels placed in 
the sun will dry completely in less than a day, often in half a day (pl. 18, a). Inthe 
fall it requires an entire day under the same conditions. When the sky is cloudy or 
showers threaten, the drying is done in the house. If time is not pressing, the pots 
are placed on a table, or in the corner of the room, and allowed to remain there 
three or more days. At the end of that time they are usually sufficiently dry. 
Vessels moulded one afternoon and placed on the table for the night are dry enough 
the following morning to permit lifting them from the pukis, which can then be 
used again. If, during cloudy weather, the potter desires to dry the vessels quickly, 
they are placed in the oven of the small wood-stove with which most San Ildefonso 
houses are nowadays equipped. Sometimes a piece of corrugated cardboard from a 
carton is placed on the floor of the oven, the door of which is left open to allow the 
evaporating moisture to escape. Only a low fire is built in the stove, for a hot one 
would cause the vessels to dry too quickly. Under such treatment a batch of pottery 
can be dried in two days, more or less, The length of time depends very largely upon 
the number of pieces to be dried, for the potter tries to keep all the vessels at about 
the same stage of drying; this of course requires frequent relays in the oven. The 
most common, and most natural, method, however, is to place the vessels in the sun 
and, when showers threaten, to carry them hurriedly into the house. In this way 
pottery is dried in a day or a day and a half. The loss of moisture in the paste 
changes its color from a dark reddish or greyish brown to a light reddish or whitish 
grey, and in the early stages the variations in the color of the paste serve as indica- 
tions of the dryness of the vessel. Later the color-change is very difficult to detect. 
Various parts of the vessel dry at different rates; the rim always first, then the 
body, and last the base, both because it is thicker and because it is usually in the 
shadow of the vessel itself; in spite of this the vessels are never inverted while they 
are drying. 

The occurrence of cracks in the paste is the only form of accident which takes 
place during drying. There are three sorts of cracks: those in the bottom of the 
vessel, which usually pass through or very near the centre of the base; rim-cracks; 
and vertical cracks in the body. All are caused by the contraction of the paste in 
drying. The part of the vessel which receives the greatest strain is the base, which, 


PLATE 18 


a. Vessels on their base-moulds drying in the sun; the pottery is always thoroughly sun-dried after it is 
moulded and before it is decorated. 
b. Summer house of Antonita Roybal, a woman who specializes in the manufacture of large red ollas; a row of 


these may be seen drying before the house. 


ae 


SUN-DRYING 53 


because of the amount of paste in it, has a tendency to contract more than the bottom 
of the side. The next greatest strain is at the bottom of the side, where the paste 
must adjust itself to the contraction in the base as well as to that in the body of the 
vessel. The body and lip have the least strain, for the contraction may be compen- 
sated for by a slight settling of the paste. It is in the base, therefore, that cracks 
usually occur, and then near the centre of it, since that is the point of greatest 
strain. The size and quantity of the cracks are an indication of the amount of temper 
still needed to make the paste of just the right consistency. If there are many 
small cracks, or a single serious one, the piece may be discarded entirely, to be 
broken up later, and re-used in moulding. If a crack is not serious, it is filled as 
follows. With a small sliver of wood, or the end of a case-knife, the paste on the 
edge of the crack is forced down into it, first on the interior and then on the ex- 
terior; little pellets of paste are then added and pressed into the crack until it is 
filled. Final smoothing with the finger or the kajepe completes the obliteration. 

Small vertical cracks near the base of the body probably also indicate faulty 
mixture of the paste. The potters, however, say that these fine cracks are caused by 
a vessel’s drying too quickly in the sun, and insist that if it had been allowed to dry 
slowly in the house, they would not have appeared. Such cracks are too fine and 
too numerous to warrant the careful filling of each one; so accordingly the surface is 
merely dampened, some soft paste is added and rubbed in with the fingers or the 
kajepe. 

Cracks running downward from the rim are exceedingly rare. The women of 
San Ildefonso make no attempt to repair them, but occasionally cut down the 
vessel to a smaller size. In the single instance noted! the crack was first traced 
downward from the rim until its end was located upon the neck, then the upper 
part of the neck was cut off below the end of the crack. It was thus possible to use 
the base of the olla as a large bowl. A line parallel with the rim was marked about 
the circumference of the neck with a lead-pencil. This line was incised with a pen- 
knife, and gone over again in order to deepen it. A second line was incised around 
the neck about three-sixteenths of an inch nearer the rim. Then the paste between 
these two lines was dug out with great care, forming a V-shaped groove (pl. 20, a). 
This groove was cut through about one-half the thickness of the wall all the way 
around the neck. Then at one point the wall was pierced, and, from there around, 
the groove was deepened by long and short strokes of a knife pulled toward the body 
until the wall had been cut through for about three-fifths of the circumference. 
The remainder broke away easily. The raw surface of the new rim was then 
softened by the application of water and smoothed with the fingers. The potter 
said this was the usual method of treating a rim crack. 


1The potter placed the responsibility for this crack upon a kitten which had jumped into the olla during 
the night. In the animal’s attempt to climb out, the vessel suffered some rather severe bumps. The story of 
the kitten’s adventure was told before the crack was noticed. Later it was used to explain the presence of the 
imperfection. 


SCRAPING 


The purpose of this process is twofold, to improve the surface of the vessel by 
removing the marks left by the kajepe and the puki, and to thin the sides, thus re- 
ducing the weight of the finished piece. It is usually begun the day following the 
completion of the moulding and sun-drying, unless other duties, such as planting, 
harvesting, and the like, force a postponement. Large vessels such as ollas are 
allowed to dry nearly forty-eight hours before they are scraped. At San Ildefonso 
vessels are made in quantities ranging from a dozen to fifty pieces. The moulding 
and drying of the entire group, a process which may extend over a period of several 
days, is entirely finished before the scraping is begun. 

There are three steps in the scraping: the wetting, the actual scraping, and the 
smoothing of the surface. The implements employed are a wet cloth and a scraper. 
The latter is either the top of a baking-powder can, or a kitchen case-knife. The 
can-top seems to be the more popular because it may be used on nearly any type of 
curve on the vessel. The informants said that their people formerly used potsherds, 
stones, or broken animal-bones as scrapers, in fact anything that had a suitable 
edge; the potsherds were sharpened and straightened by rubbing them on coarse 
sandstone. 

When the vessel is brought in from drying, it is easily lifted from the puki, 
since the layer of ashes or temper prevents sticking. A small olla or bowl is held 
upon the left knee, with the mouth tilted to the left and away from the body. A 
bowl is held with the left hand, the fingers on the interior, the thumb on the ex- 
terior of the lip. The exterior surface of the vessel is then softened by wiping it 
with a wet rag. This step is omitted by some potters always, by others only when 
the vessel needs a small amount of scraping. The scraping itself is begun while the 
surface is still damp. The scraper first touches the vessel near the shoulder. ‘The 
work then continues toward the base by means of short, quick strokes taken toward 
the body. As the work advances the upper part of the bowl is turned away from 
the body, that is, the vessel turns counterclockwise. When the ridges marking the 
former position of the edge of the puki are being destroyed, care is taken to keep the 
curve of the side uniform from the base to the shoulder. If the scraping discloses 
an impurity, such as a stone fragment in the paste, it is removed; the resulting 
irregularity is filled with a pinch of soft paste, and smoothed over. The strokes of 
the scraper are usually approximately parallel to the rim of the vessel. The upper 
part is scraped as far as the surface remains convex. In bowls the scraping is done 
to the very rim. In both large and small ollas with flaring lip, the scraping con- 
tinues only to the base of the flare. The interiors of vessels, even of wide-mouthed 
bowls, are never scraped. When a bowl requires little scraping to make the surface 
uniform, it may be finished in from three to five minutes. Those which are too 


PLATE 19 


a. Scraping an olla after sun-drying; the implement used is an ordinary kitchen case-knife. 
b. Scraping; the dark part of the olla has just been moistened to soften the clay. 


SCRAPING 55 


heavy, and therefore need thinning, take considerably longer. It may even be 
necessary to moisten the surface a second time. The potters judge the proper 
thickness of the bowls by weighing them in the two hands with the elbows unsup- 
ported. 

Large ollas, while being scraped, are held in the lap, with the mouth inclined to 
the left and away from the body. The left hand supporting the olla is placed palm 
down upon the neck (pl. 19, b). Because of the extent of surface to be gone over 
only that part of the olla about to be scraped is moistened with the cloth. When 
a case-knife is used instead of a can-top, it is held either at right angles to the surface 
worked or at an angle of about sixty degrees with the surface, the upper edge of the 
knife tilted away from the body (pl. 19, a). In all vessels, bowls as well as ollas, the 
angle with the horizontal made by the mouth varies considerably, according to the 
part of the vessel being scraped. After the scraping proper is completed, one 
potter sometimes rubs the surface, including the rim and lip, with a little steel wool, 
which noticeably improves the smoothness. The final step is to go over the entire 
surface carefully with the palm of the right hand in search of irregularities or small 
uneven spots. 

When the scraper is laid aside for the last time, the surface of the vessel is again 
softened with a wet cloth. By means of vigorous rubbing the thin film of moist 
surface-paste is redistributed over the entire exterior of the vessel, filling the small 
scratches made by the scraper, and softening the edges of the larger ones. If the 
vessel is a bowl or a large olla, its position is then changed so that its mouth is 
tilted to the right and towards the body, whereupon the interior is treated with a 
wet cloth. The finishing touches consist in smoothing, either with a wet cloth or 
the ball of the finger, small areas of the surface which are not quite to the potter’s 
satisfaction. ‘The use of the wet cloth gives a uniform smooth texture which is a 
distinct improvement over the scraped surface. The paste resumes its dry color 
in three to five minutes after the wetting. This process actually amounts to 
the same thing as putting a thin slip of paste upon the vessel, but the potters 
do not think of it in that light. It is said that some women entirely omit 
this final smoothing step. Formerly a wet cloth was not used; the fingers alone, 
a piece of sandstone, or a corncob served, according to the informants, to smooth the 
surface after scraping. Asa matter of fact, however, cloth was used in old times for 
smoothing pottery, as clay-smeared rags are occasionally discovered in the rubbish 
of ancient cliff houses. Ground potsherds, on the other hand, were more often 
used than gourd-rind kajepes, the latter being very rare even in the dry deposits 
found in caves. At Pecos well-worn fragments of the spongy interior parts of 
large animal bones have been found which may well have been employed for 
smoothing. 

The time element in scraping is a variable quantity. Table VI on the following 
page is the record of one potter. A, B, and C were large ollas; D, E, and F were 
small globular ollas six inches in diameter and five inches high; G was a shallow, 
wide-mouthed bowl. 


56 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


Wet cloth applied 

Scraping begun 

Wet cloth applied again 

Wet cloth applied again 

Steel wool rub begun 

Scraping done, exterior 
smoothing begun 

Interior smoothing begun 

Finishing begun 

Set aside 


A 


05 


08. 
14. 
Lie 
.30 


Ee. 


Min. Sec. 
00. 
00. 
02. 
04. 
.30 


00 
30 
30 
00 


00 
30 
00 


TABLE VI 
B C D E F G 

Min. Sec. Min.Sec. Min. Sec. Min.Sec. Min. Sec. Min. Sec. 

00.00 00.00 00.00 00.00 00.00 00.00 

01.00 00.30 

08.30 

11.00 

16.30 

18.30 18.00 08 .30 03.00 05.00 08.00 

26.00 11.00 05.30 07.30 11.00 
31.30 35.00 13.00 08.30 08.30 15.30 


The treatment of the vessels after scraping varies considerably among different 
potters. One places the scraped vessels in the sun for a period of not less than three 
days in order to test them for cracks; another begins the next step in the work, that 
of slipping, almost at once, sometimes the same day; a third after scraping ollas 
replaces them in the sun for a day or so, in order to allow them to “get warm”’ 
(that is, dry) thoroughly,! before the slipping and polishing are begun. 


1 The expression “get warm” comes from the fact that while the vessel is damp the evaporating moisture 
causes it to feel cool; when thoroughly dry it feels warm. 


SLIPPING AND POLISHING 


Up to this point all vessels are made in the same general manner. In the suc- 
ceeding stages the treatment differs according to the type of decoration which is 
eventually to be applied. The making of the vessel has been completed, and the 
finishing is now begun. Just as the making is divided into three general processes — 
moulding, sun-drying, and scraping, so the finishing is similarly divided into 
slipping, painting, and firing. 

Slipping is the application of a very thin layer of clay to the surface or sur- 
faces of the vessel to produce a smooth texture, uniform in color, which gives the 
pottery a pleasing appearance; it also serves as a background upon which designs 
may be painted. The slip further acts as a sizing. San Ildefonso slip is a saturated 
solution of a colored clay in water; it is very little thicker than water, and is applied 
by means of a small piece of cloth, used in much the same way in which a painter 
would handle a brush an inch and a half or two inches wide. It is said that formerly 
a small piece of skin was used instead of a cloth mop. The treatment after applica- 
tion depends upon the slip used; some slips are merely wiped vigorously with a 
cloth, others must be polished with smooth, fine-grained stones. 

At San Ildefonso the potters use slips of four different colors — white (of two 
varieties), orange-red, red, and dark-red. ‘The red and dark-red slips and one 
variety of the white must be polished; the other white and the orange-red do not 
need it. The white slips are principally used as backgrounds in polychrome ware 
(see pl. 6), the red for undecorated red ware and polished black ware (see pl. 8), and 
the dark-red for decorated red ware (see pl. 7, a, b). The orange-red slip is the only 
one of the four which is not used on the body of vessels, it being confined to the 
bases of ollas and of some bowls. The white and the orange-red are used also in the 
elements of designs.! 


WHITE SLIP 


The native white slip (see p. 23) is applied and polished in the same manner as 
the red slip (see p. 23). It has been very largely supplanted by the Santo 
Domingo white slip, which does not require polishing. 

The Santo Domingo white slip (see p. 23) is a soapy clay which the San Ilde- 
fonso potters obtain from the Indians of Santo Domingo and Cochiti. It is mixed 
with water in enamelled pans and basins or in china dishes, although formerly 
pottery vessels were used to hold it. Although undissolved lumps of the clay re- 
main in the bottom of the vessel containing the solution, the latter is not appreciably 
thicker than water. The mop with which it is applied is a folded cloth, about two 
inches wide and three, or three and a half, inches long. This is held at one end, 


1The red slips are not used today in the designs, although some of the older vessels contain red elements 
which appear to have been made of the dark-red slip. 


58 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


between the thumb and the first two fingers of the right hand, the other end of the 
cloth acting as a two-inch wide paint-brush, which is manipulated with an easy, 
backward-forward stroking motion, parallel to the rim.! 

Before the slip is applied, the hand is rubbed over the surface in order to remove 
any dust or powder which may remain after the scraping. Some vessels, while 
being slipped, are held with the mouth vertical and to the left, supported by the 
bent fingers of the left hand against the interior of the rim. Others are held upright, 
resting upon the palm of the left hand (pl. 20, b). In both cases the vessels are 
revolved counterclockwise as the slip is applied. In the container the slip is creamy 
white, but when first laid on it turns a muddy yellowish-white, because the clay 
below darkens as it absorbs the moisture. Within two or three minutes the under 
clay dries, and the surface becomes dead white. Five or six coats are applied, the 
vessel being allowed to become completely dry after each one. One potter rubbed 
the surface vigorously with a dry cloth after each application and before the slip 
had thoroughly dried. Another rubbed the vessel with a cloth only after all the 
coats had been put on, but before the last had dried. Usually the work is done 
in the sun, at the place where the pieces have been drying, but occasionally it 
is carried on in the house, and between coatings the vessels are placed in an 
oven heated by a slow fire. The length of time, five or more minutes, during 
which the vessel remains in the oven is determined by testing the warmth of its 
surface. When the work has been completed, the very faint marks of the mop 
are visible. 

Pieces of pottery of various shapes are slipped on different surfaces. Small 
ollas and constricted-mouthed bowls are coated with white only on the upper two- 
thirds or three-quarters of the exterior. No particular care is taken to keep the 
lower edge of the slip regular. Of smaller vessels the entire exterior, including the 
base, is usually covered. Open-mouthed bowls are coated with white both in the 
interior and the upper part of the exterior. Shallow open-mouthed bowls may be 
coated only on the interior. The exterior surfaces not treated with white slip are 
later coated with orange-red slip (see below). 

The actual length of time that each vessel is in the hands of the potter while it is 
being slipped is very short. It requires one-quarter to one-half a minute to apply a 
coat of slip to a constricted-mouthed bowl six to eight inches in diameter. The six 
coats could be applied in less than three minutes. Another half minute is needed for 
the rubbing with the cloth at the end. Four minutes in all is a generous estimate. 
A coat of slip is applied to the entire group of vessels at one time (pl. 20, b). Less 
than fifteen minutes are required to give a single coat of slip to a group of from 
twenty to thirty pieces. After this step has been completed, the vessels are placed 
in the sun for an hour or more before the painting of the design is begun, the length 
of time depending upon attendant circumstances. 

1 Stevenson says of the Zuni: “‘This solution (of a fine white calcareous earth) is applied to the surface of the 
vessel and allowed to dry; it is then ready for the decorations”’ (1883, pp. 329, 330). Mrs. Stevenson, writing at 
a later date, gives more details: ‘‘A white clay is dissolved in water and then made into cones which are dried in 
the sun. When required for use these cones are rubbed to powder on a stone, again mixed with water, and applied 


in a liquid state to the object with a rabbit-skin mop. Polishing-stones are used to finish the surface” (1904, 
p- 375). 


*poig A[[nyssoo 


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‘apis s.Joqjod oY} 7B YoUeq ey} UO st dis peredoad ay} Sururezu0. -Jayje sem ospo MBI oy, “suLAIp-uns [euy oy} SuLIMp wMtI 94} 
ued poyeueus oy, “dow yop ev yyM drys oq surk{{ddy ye APYSYs poyovio pey YoY vO ue wioIy doy oy} Suryyny 
q e 


06 HLVId 


SLIPPING AND POLISHING 59 


ORANGE-RED S.LIp 


This slip is applied only to the bases of vessels (ollas and certain bowls) and to 
the interior of the lips of ollas. Before burning it is mustard-yellow in color, but 
after firing it becomes orange-red. A cloth mop is used for application in the same 
manner as with the white slip; one coat only is applied to each surface. 

As a rule the vessel being slipped is held in the lap, the mouth vertical and 
turned to the left (pl. 21, a). The left hand is placed in the interior to support it 
and keep it turning counterclockwise, that is, the upper part is turned away from 
the body, as the strokes are taken towards the body. The formation of the junction- 
line between this base-slip and the body-slip is very carefully handled. No at- 
tention is paid to the lower edge of the body-slip, except to notice its general location, 
for the base-slip covers it and itself produces the edge. This upper line, made by 
long, careful, slow, trailing strokes of the mop, is drawn entirely free-hand, yet the 
potters succeed surprisingly well in keeping it always the same distance from the 
centre of the base. Three or four strokes are more than sufficient to encircle the 
vessel (pl. 21, a). It is often possible in the finished piece to trace the lower edge 
of the body-slip, under the orange-red coating. After the junction line has been 
drawn, the rest of the base is covered with shorter forward-backward strokes. The 
application of the orange-red slip to the interior of the lips of ollas is done with the 
same careful, slow technique used in forming the junction-line near the base of 
the body; during the process the vessel is held on the palm of the hand right-side up. 
The exterior of shallow bowls which receive no white slip is completely coated with 
the orange-red, the bowl being inverted over the left hand during the application. 

The orange-red slip may be put on either before or after the painting of the 
design; if before, the painting may be begun at once; if after, the application may 
be delayed until within an hour or two of burning. If the vessels are set aside for a 
while at this stage, they are covered with a cloth to keep the dust and flies away. 
The time element is practically the same as in the case of the white slip. 


Rep Sure 


The red slip, as was said above, serves to cover the surfaces of undecorated 
red-ware. It is always polished with the rubbing-stone after application. When 
given a certain special firing (see p. 74) it turns a lustrous black and so produces 
polished black ware (pl. 8, b). This slip is a saturated solution in water of the red 
clay just as it was obtained from the claypits (see p. 24). Although undissolved 
lumps remain at the bottom of the solution, the latter is no thicker than water. The 
containers are either open-mouthed pottery bowls or china dishes. The slip is 
applied as usual with a small folded rag. While it is being put on, the vessel may be 
hung from the fingers of the left hand with the mouth vertical, or held in the usual 
way upon the palm of the left hand, its position depending upon whether or not the 
base is to be slipped. The surface is covered two or three times with the cloth mop, 
in a rather haphazard manner, so that certain portions where the strokes overlap 
receive as many as four coats. The potter herself is uncertain regarding the number 
of coats the surface has received, as they are applied one immediately after the 


COT PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


other, with no wait between. The mopping is stopped when the surface seems 
uniformly covered with just the right shade — a rather bright red. San Ildefonso 
potters usually cover with this slip the entire exterior of small ollas and bowls, 
including the base.!_ In some cases shallow open-mouthed bowls are slipped only 
on the interior. 

Before the slip dries, the rubbing with the polishing-stone is begun. The stone 
is held between the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand. The entire 
surface is gone over several times with a backward-forward motion in strokes 
about three or four inches long.2 Each stroke is made with the entire forearm, 
there being no noticeable play in either the wrist or the fingers. This is a rather 
fatiguing and exacting process, for to obtain the best results all parts of the surface 
must receive equal attention; a definite system, however, has been developed 
by means of which the entire surface is gone over. 

In polishing the exterior of a small olla or of a bowl, the vessel is first placed 
upon the lap in an inverted position, tilted slightly to the right. It is held at the rim 
by the left hand, which rests upon the left thigh. The polishing is begun on the right- 
hand side of the base near the body, and proceeds diagonally across the base to the 
far left-hand side. The vessel is then tipped up with the mouth to the left and the 
rim nearly vertical. The polishing is begun at the shoulder and continued down 
to within a very short distance of the centre of the base (pl. 21, b). At this stage 
some potters polish from the base to the shoulder. As the work continues, the 
upper part of the bowl is turned counterclockwise away from the body. Usually 
the stroke is parallel to the rim, but occasionally a diagonal motion developes. 
The strokes across the bottom are then made at right angles to the previous series. 
A constricted-mouthed bowl is then turned so that the mouth, still vertical, is to 
the right, and the section from the lip to the shoulder is polished; the bowl is now 
turned clockwise, that is, the top still turns away from the body. Small ollas may 
be held either in this position or with the mouth tilted at an angle of about forty- 
five degrees to the left and away from the body, in which case the polishing is done 
from the shoulder to the lip (see pl. 30, b, which shows a Zufii potter using the 
polishing stone). 

After the surface has been completely covered in this manner once, and none 
too carefully, the rim is coated with the slip, applied by the forefinger of the right 
hand, and gone over with the stone. The vessel is then wiped with a cloth upon 


* At Santa Clara and San Juan some polished ware is polished only from the rim to the shoulder and the lower 
half is apparently unslipped. 

> Stevenson in speaking of the polished black pottery of the Rio Grande pueblos says: “A solution of very 
fine ochre-colored clay is applied to the outside and inside near the top, or to such parts of the surface as are to be 
polished. While this solution thus applied is still moist, the process of polishing begins by rubbing the part thus 
washed with smooth, fine-grained stones until quite dry and glossy. The parts thus rubbed still retain the original 
red color of the clay. The vessels are again placed in the sun and allowed to become thoroughly dry, when they 
are ready for baking”’ (1883, p. 331). Mrs. Stevenson also gives an account somewhat similar: “In many of the 
pueblos the pottery is undecorated, the surface being finished in plain red or black. The ware is made of a yellowish 
clay, in the manner heretofore described, and the vessels are placed in the sun, where they remain for hours. They 
are then washed with a solution of red ochre, and while wet the process of polishing begins, the woman with untiring 
energy going over the surface again and again with her polishing-stone, every little while passing a wet cloth over 
the vessel to keep the surface moist. When the polishing is completed, the vessel is again placed in the sun for a 
short time before receiving its final baking in the oven” (1904, p. 375.) 


PLATE 21 


Cc 


a. Applying orange-red slip with a cloth mop; the beginning of the stroke may be seen just above the lap of 
the potter. b. Polishing a bowl with a small stone after red slip has been applied. The marks of the stone are 
visible at first, but quickly disappear as the slip dries. c. Women working with the polishing stone. Note the 
light line about the shoulder of the large olla, where a space is always temporarily left unpolished. 


+ 


SLIPPING AND POLISHING 61 


which a little lard has been rubbed. The lard may be kept near the potter in any 
convenient receptacle, like a sauce-dish or the bowl of a spoon. A clean cloth is 
then immediately used to distribute the lard evenly upon the surface, and to remove 
any surplus. Some potters do not use this second cloth at all; others apply the lard 
to the vessels with their fingers, wiping it immediately afterwards with a cloth. In 
some cases, the application of the lard is withheld until the polishing is entirely 
completed. 

The polishing is then continued in exactly the manner just described. The 
surface is covered more carefully and more slowly, the areas worked upon often 
overlapping considerably. A cloth, sometimes a part of the potter’s apron, is now 
between the left hand and the vessel in order to protect the smooth surface. A 
considerable pressure is exerted. Some women use a short, very quick stroke; 
others a somewhat longer, slower stroke, hence taking more time for the work. 
In this way the surface is covered several times. Finally the routine treatment is 
dropped, and finishing touches are given by polishing small areas here and there 
which do not show the required amount of lustre. The strokes used at the end are 
usually slightly longer than the previous ones. Finally, after the stone has been 
laid aside, the surface is wiped once with a clean cloth before the vessel is set aside; 
it is usually placed upon a mat or cloth in order that the base may not be scratched 
by contact with the earthen floor. When the polishing of several vessels has been 
completed, they are gathered in a corner of a room on a mat or rug, and covered 
with a cloth to keep the flies and dust away, for it is said that fly-specks leave a 
black mark upon the burned vessel. 

In the case of large ollas one half of the vessel is doubtless coated with slip 
and polished before the other half is slipped. This is the process employed in polish- 
ing large ollas slipped with dark-red (see p. 63). No opportunity presented itself 
to see a large polished olla being made. 

In polishing the interior of a shallow bowl, the vessel is held in its normal 
position, tilted slightly to the right, and resting upon the right knee and the palm 
of the left hand, which in turn, rests upon the left knee. The polishing is done from 
the lip to the centre of the vessel. As the work advances, the bowl is turned counter- 
clockwise. 

The degree of polish obtained by different potters varies considerably, and yet 
in even the very finest examples of polishing the marks left by the stone may be 
faintly seen in certain lights in the form of exceedingly low ridges, generally running 
roughly parallel to the rim and too low to be felt with the fingers. The surface has 
a lustre almost equal to that of burnished metal. In pieces which are not as well 
polished, the ridges are higher and may be felt with the fingers; indeed they are 
often prominent enough to make the lustre uneven. Maria Martinez, who does the 
best polishing, is also the swiftest worker in the village. From the moment the 
vessel is picked up to apply the slip until the completion of the polishing, it is not 
laid down for an instant. Her strokes are quicker than those of the other potters; 
she covers the surface in much less time and therefore polishes a given area more 
often before the slip dries. Continued polishing tires the wrist and hand very 
quickly and is apt to produce cramps. Other potters are inclined to rest for a few 


62 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


minutes from time to time, especially after the application of the slp and again 
after the lard has been put on. One woman complained of the humid weather, 
because it did not allow the slip to dry quickly enough. The potters themselves 
say that streaky polish is due to lack of persistence on the part of the polisher. 
Maria attributes her success to the fact that she uses a faster stroke and puts on a 
little more lard than the others. Large vessels usually have a poorer polish than 
small ones. The secret of good polishing seems to lie in the ability of the potter to 
go over her work as many times as possible after the slip has been applied and before 
it becomes too dry. 

The time during which the vessel being polished is actually in the hands of the 
potter is given in Table VII. The first column (A) represents a constricted-mouthed 
bowl, about eight inches in diameter at the shoulder and four inches high, which was 
polished by Maria. In one hour and fifteen minutes elapsed time three such bowls 
were done, an average of twenty-five minutes for each. The second column (B) 
represents the polishing by another potter of the interior of a shallow wide-mouthed 
bowl. The actual time from the moment the bowl was picked up for the application 
of the slip until the polishing was done was forty-one minutes. A rest of one 
minute was taken after the slip had been applied, another of thirteen minutes after 
the application of the lard, in order to let the bowl “dry”, and a third of one minute 
when the final polishing was about half done. The interior of this bowl was a very 
fine example of polishing. 


TABLE VII 

Min. Sec. Mazin. Sec. 
First application of the slip 00.00 00.00 
First polishing begun 02.50 03.00 
Slipping of rim begun 04.45 
Polishing of rim begun 05.30 
Application of lard begun 06.05 10.00 
Wiping with dry cloth begun 06.40 
Final polishing begun 07.05 11.00 
Polishing finished 24.05 26.00 


DARK-RED SLIP 


The dark-red slip is a mixture of red slip, native white slip, and tempering 
material. It is applied to vessels which are later to receive a black design (see pl. 7, 
a, b). It is mopped on with a cloth in exactly the same manner as the red, and is 
also polished with a stone but never acquires as high a lustre as does the red. There 
seems to be a tendency for the first coat of this slip to dry more readily than the first 
coat of the red slip. 

While applying the slip to small ollas about six inches in diameter, the vessel 
is held by the rim with the left hand. Either the entire exterior may be slipped, or 
the base may remain uncoated, to be covered later with the orange-red slip. The 
slip is first applied to the rim, the forefinger being used instead of a mop. During 
this process the vessel is right-side up either in the lap or on the floor. The body 
is then slipped with the cloth mop, and the polishing done in two parts, with the 


SLIPPING AND POLISHING 63 


shoulder as the dividing line. In polishing the lower part the strokes begin at the 
base, or at the lower edge of the slip in case the base has not been coated, and pro- 
ceed upward to the shoulder. The direction of the strokes is practically parallel to 
the rim. The upper part is polished from the shoulder to the lip. On the base, if it 
has been slipped, the strokes are first made in one direction, then at right angles to 
that direction. From time to time, as the polishing proceeds, the vessels are set 
aside in order to allow the slip to dry somewhat. They may even be placed in the 
sun or near a fire on the hearth. The potters explain that if the work is completed 
while the slipped surface is very damp, the resulting polish will not be as high as 
when the slip is just drying. Apparently, the work done just before the surface 
becomes dry plays an important part in securing a high lustre. One of the potters 
working on this ware applied a little lard to the surface after the polishing had been 
completed. Another potter used no lard whatever for this class of ware.1_ When 
the polishing has been completed the vessel is placed in the sun or near a fire to 
dry thoroughly before it is put away to await decoration. While the olla is drying 
it is covered with a cloth to protect it from flies. 

In polishing larger ollas one half of the vessel is coated with the dark-red slip 
and polished before the other half is slipped. Either the half above the shoulder or 
the half below the shoulder may be polished first. Rather quick strokes, three or 
four inches long, are made with the stone. Sufficient pressure is exerted to cause 
motion in the entire body of the worker. The strokes, as before, are usually parallel 
to the rim. Because of the larger surface to be covered in these vessels, the position 
of the olla on the lap of the potter is changed frequetly. It is supported with the 
left hand, which is placed palm down upon the exterior surface. While the lip is 
being polished, the mouth is turned toward the body and to the right, making an 
angle of about sixty degrees from the horizontal. In polishing the upper part of the 
shoulder the potter turns the mouth to the left and away from the body (pl. 21, c). 
Usually the mouth is more nearly horizontal in this position than in the former. 

Before applying the slip to the lower half of the olla, a faint line is drawn with 
the polishing-stone around the lower part of the body to define the lower edge of the 
body-slip. During the slipping and polishing of this portion of the surface, the 
olla is held with the mouth nearly vertical and to the left, directed away from the 
body. When the polishing proper is completed, the finishing touches are given to 
the entire exterior by rubbing small areas here and there which do not entirely 
satisfy the potter. 

As in the case of the red slip, the polishing must be completed before the slip 
becomes too dry. When there is a large surface to be polished, as in the case of these 
ollas, it is of course necessary that the work upon any given section of the surface be 
completed as quickly as possible. Therefore when two potters are working together, 
the swifter of the two does the polishing on the larger vessel, regardless of which of 
the two applies the slip. After the polishing proper has been completed, the olla 
may be turned over to the slower worker for the finishing touches. This necessity 
for speed in polishing is probably the reason for slipping only a part of the surface at 
one time. 

' This second potter, however, did use lard in polishing vessels to which the red slip had been applied. 


64 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


Now and then, as the polishing proceeds, the potter changes stones. An 
important factor in this change is the desire to rest the fingers through the slight 
alteration in grip afforded by the different shapes of the stones. Occasionally the 
change is due to a wish to obtain a stone with just the proper shaped surface for the 
section of the olla being worked upon. There is also a tendency to use a larger, 
rougher stone at the beginning of the work, for which is substituted later for the 
final finish a smaller, finer-grained, and therefore smoother, stone. 

Because of the practice of slipping and polishing only half the surface at a 
time, there develops around the shoulder a narrow line of dried slip, which is natur- 
ally lighter in color than the worked areas. (This line may be seen encircling the 
olla in pl. 21, c). After the polishing of the upper and lower areas has been com- 
pleted, the potter’s attention turns to this line, and since dry slip cannot be polished, 
the rubbing stone is either wet with the tongue or dipped into the liquid in the slip- 
container before being used on the line. The latter method appears to give the best 
results, but in either case, the moistening of the stone is done very frequently, and 
the process of eliminating the lighter line is a painfully slow one. Even when the 
best results have been obtained, the line is not entirely obliterated. Occasionally 
the stone is moistened with the tongue while giving final touches to other parts of 
the surface. 

When the polishing with the stone has been entirely completed, a little lard is 
rubbed on the surface either with the forefinger or with a greasy cloth; the surface is 
then vigorously rubbed with a chamois.! This distributes the lard evenly and very 
noticeably improves the lustre. Then the vessel, after being covered with a cloth, 
is put in the sun to dry thoroughly. 

The great difference in the time required for polishing large and small ollas 
requires two tables to present the details. Table VIII gives the time during which 
a large olla, about fourteen inches in diameter at the shoulder, was under the hands 
of the potters. The time devoted to obliterating the light junction-line, about 
fifteen to twenty minutes, was considerably longer than usual. Table IX gives 
the time required for three small globular ollas, about six inches in diameter at the 
shoulder. The surface of each of these was approximately the same as that of the 
polished black constricted-mouthed bowl recorded in Table VII. 


1 The substitution of the chamois for a cloth was inaugurated by the potter using it. 


SLIPPING AND POLISHING 


TABLE VIII 
Hrs. Min. Sec. 
00.00 — Drawing of line about lower part of body begun 
01.00 — Slipping of lower half of olla begun 
08.30 — Slipping finished, polishing begun 
23.30 — Vessel transferred to a slower worker 
40.00 — Set aside 
04.45 — Time out 
40.00 — Polishing by slower worker continued 
47.45 — First application of lard begun 
48 .45 — Polishing with chamois begun 
50.45 — Lower part finished 
? — Time out 
50.45 — Slipping of upper half begun 
55.15 — Slipping of body done, slipping of rim begun 
56.45 — Polishing begun 
1.00.45 — Vessel transferred to the swifter worker 
1.20.45 — Vessel transferred to the slower worker, obliteration of junction-line 
1.53.45 — First application of lard begun 
1.55.45 — Polishing with chamois begun 
1.59.45 — Polishing of vessel completed 


TABLE IX 

Min. Sec. Min. Sec. Min. Sec. 
Slipping begun 00.00 00.00 00.00 
Slipping completed 03.00 
Time out 01.00 omitted 
Polishing begun 03.00 04.00 04.00 
Set aside (second one beside fire) 27.30 31.30 
Time out 03.00 34.30 omitted 
Polishing continued 27.30 omitted 
Lard first applied, chamois used later 30.30 31.30 32.00 


Work on vessel completed 31.45 32.00 36.00 


PAINTING 


Three varieties of paint are employed in making the designs — the black, or 
guaco, which is used on red and polychrome wares, the orange-red (also used as a 
slip), which serves as a paint in filling certain spaces in the designs upon polychrome 
ware, and the black ware paint which produces the designs upon polished black 
ware. ! 

The consistency of the guaco, when dissolved in water and ready for use, varies 
from that of water to that of thick cream. The solution is sticky and has a char- 
acteristic odor. A thin solution when applied to the surface of a vessel is yellowish- 
green, and has much the same appearance as a fresh coat of the orange-red paint. 
After drying the two are easily distinguishable. A thick solution of guaco is dark 
brownish-green when applied to the vessel, and on drying has a noticeable “body’’, 
so that the lines appear slightly raised and glossy. It is not possible to draw as fine 
a line with the thick solution as with the thin one. 

The orange-red is never used in painting lines, but only for filling areas, and is 
therefore always applied with a medium or heavy brush. 

In preparing the black ware paint, a slight amount of guaco is added as an 
adhesive, and the solution is often stirred with the fingers in order to insure com- 
plete dissolving of the coloring matter. When first applied to the vessel, this paint 
is almost transparent; as it dries it becomes yellowish. 

The principal precaution taken when painting is begun is to guard against 
flies. They eat the moist guaco, causing blank spaces in the lines, and also make 
fly-specks on the slip which turn black in the firing. The room is therefore cleared 
of flies as far as possible, and great care then exercised to keep the door shut. 
The painter watches the pot constantly, and often interrupts her work in order to 
brush a fly from the design. If it is necessary to do the painting out of doors, the 
services of an assistant are required to wave a cloth back and forth across the top 
of the vessel to keep the flies away.2. When the work has been completed the 
vessels are immediately covered with a cloth. 

The receptacle for paint may be either a small open-mouthed pottery bowl or a 
china sauce-dish. During the painting it is on the right side of the potter within 
easy reach, either on the floor or on a low stool. In it is always a stirring-stick. 

1 The use of this paint for producing designs upon polished black ware was discovered by Maria Martinez in 
June, 1921. On inquiring why other potters did not copy the process, it was learned that because of certain taboo- 
like restrictions the secret of making this kind of ware would not be disclosed until a year after its discovery. Al- 
though the matter could not be further investigated because of the unwillingness of the Indians to discuss such 
things, it would appear that we have in this case a sort of primitive patent-right. At the present time (1925) prac- 
tically all San Ildefonso potters make this ware, which has proved extraordinarily popular; Maria, however, still 
produces by far the finest pieces (see pl. 8, a). 

2 Occasionally such precautions are disregarded, apparently through laziness. One potter did her painting in 


the same room in which some meat was being cooked. The combined odors of the cooking meat and the guaco 
attracted all the flies in the neighborhood, but fortunately screens kept some of them out of the room. 


PLATE 22 


b 


Painting designs on small vessels. The decorator’s right hand does not come in contact with the pot, and the 
tip of the brush is trailed rather than stroked across the surface a. Maria Martinez. b. Maximiliana Martinez. 


PAS EN UN.G 67 


The brushes are usually kept in the paint, or occasionally beside it, and sometimes a 
pencil is also near at hand (pl. 23, a). 

In decorating the exterior of a constricted-mouthed bowl, the vessel is held 
upright and inclined very slightly towards the body; it rests on the left knee and is 
steadied by the pressure of the left hand against the interior of the rim (pl. 22, a). 
The potter sits in a position which allows the light to come over her right shoulder 
directly upon the section of the bowl being painted. As the work proceeds the 
vessel is turned counterclockwise. When the design extends slightly below the 
shoulder, the bowl is inclined to the left and away from the body. If a considerable 
portion of the design is below the shoulder, the vessel is inverted and is supported by 
the fingers of the left hand against the interior base of the bowl. 

If the interior of an open-mouthed bowl is being painted, the enclosing lines 
near the rim are made first. During this process the bowl is held with the mouth 
vertical and to the right, while the lines are drawn on the lower part of the interior 
rim. The vessel moves counterclockwise. The bottom of the interior is painted 
with the bowl standing in its normal position on the left knee, the mouth inclined to 
the right and toward the body. 

When a large vessel, such as an olla, is to be painted, it is placed upon a box or 
table of the proper height, which has previously been covered with a rug or mat to 
protect the base (pl. 23). The painter chooses her position so that the light will 
fall over her shoulder upon the vessel. During the painting of the upper part of the 
vessel it is touched with the left hand only when it needs to be turned. In working 
below the shoulder the vessel is tilted slightly to the left, and away from the painter. 

The paint-brushes are made of slivers of yucca (fig. 5). They may be roughly 
grouped into three weights — fine, medium, and heavy.! The fine ones are used in 
making outlines on the smaller vessels; the medium ones either for line work or for 
the filling of small areas; and the heavy ones for filling only. During the painting 
there are from three to six brushes in the paint vessel. These brushes are of such 
durability that the potters have no definite idea of the length of their usefulness. 
Since the fibres are brittle when dry, brushes are occasionally broken by accident; 
to prevent such breakage they are soaked in water for a few minutes to soften them 
before they are used. 

The brush is held in the right hand, with the fingers in the position used in 
holding a pencil or pen. The ends of the fingers are two or three inches from the tip 
of the brush (pl. 22, a, b.; pl. 23, a). The fingers of the right hand do not rest upon 
the surface of the vessel and the entire right arm is unsupported (pl. 23), although 
at times the elbow may be unconsciously steadied against the body. The straight- 
ness and evenness of the lines drawn under these conditions are remarkable. 


1 Stevenson gives no details of the painting at Zufii; “‘When the pigment is properly reduced, and mixed with 
water so as to form a thin solution, it is applied with brushes made of the leaves of the yucca. These brushes are 
made of flat pieces of the leaf, which are stripped off and bruised at one end, and are of different sizes adapted to 
the coarse or fine lines the artist may wish to draw. In this manner all the decorations on the pottery are pro- 
duced” (1883, p. 330). Mrs. Stevenson is just as brief: “After a thorough drying of this foundation, the slip, the 
designs are painted with brushes made of yucca needles, the pigments having been ground in stone mortars and 
made into a paste with water to which a syrup of yucca fruit is added” (1904, p. 375). The stone mortar for pigment 
grinding may be seen in pl. 31, a. 


68 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


There is a slight personal variation in the method of contact of the brush with 
the vessel. One potter uses only the tip of the brush; another first places the tip 
upon the surface, and then makes the line with the body of the brush; a third places 
the body of the brush upon the vessel at the first contact. In making a line a trail- 
ing stroke is invariably used; its direction is usually toward the body, but occasion- 
ally away from it. The brush is always moved slowly, and the angle at which it is 
held varies according to the part of the surface over which the line is being drawn, 
and upon the part of the stroke which is being made. At the beginning of a stroke 
the angle is an acute one, varying from forty-five to seventy degrees (fig. 8, a); 
about the middle it approximates ninety degrees (fig. 8, b); while at the end it is 
often an obtuse angle of as much as one hundred and twenty degrees (fig. 8, c). 
On small vessels the strokes seldom exceed four inches in length; on larger pots they 
are sometimes as much as six inches long. After each stroke the brush is dipped 
into the paint vessel; it is then always drawn across the stirring stick, which is kept 


Fic. 8. Angles at which paint-brush is held during a long stroke; a. Beginning. b. Middle of stroke. c. End. 


there, in order to remove excess paint before being applied again to the surface. 
Even after this precaution more paint occasionally remains on the brush than is 
needed; in such a case the excess is removed by touching with the tip of the brush 
various larger areas which will later be covered with paint. 

The width of the lines drawn is largely dependent upon personal variation, 
although the type of design also governs their width to some extent. Exceedingly 
fine lines, for example, would obviously look out of proportion in a bold design 
upon a large olla. The lines vary in width from one-thirtieth to one-tenth of an 
inch; the great majority are between one-fifteenth and one-twentieth. Lines one- 
eighth or one-quarter of an inch wide are in reality double, that is, they actually 
consist of two lines painted so close together that they touch along their entire 
length. Still wider lines are made by two parallel lines, with the space between 
filled up. Some potters simply make the line once, retouching it only in small 
sections which most plainly require such treatment. Others go over each line at 
least twice in order to insure a constant width. 


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66 ALVId 


PAINTING -69 


From the point of view of technique, the lines upon the exteriors of small vessels, 
such as constricted-mouthed bowls, may be divided into two groups — the long 
enclosing lines and those within panels. In forming the enclosing lines, especially 
the long horizontal ones, the vessel is turned while the brush remains almost 
stationary. There are two methods of forming such long horizontal lines, which 
of necessity are made of a series of relatively short strokes. In one case the growth 
of the line is in the same direction as the strokes, that is, each stroke begins at the 
point at which the previous stroke ended. In this method the vessel is turned 
counterclockwise. In the other case the growth of the line is opposite to the direc- 
tion of the stroke, that is, each stroke is begun a short distance beyond the end of 
the line and is drawn to meet the beginning of the previous stroke, the vessel being 
turned clockwise. In either case the fingers of the left hand, which hold the pot by 
the interior of the lip, are spread far apart in order to insure the constant and regular 
motion of the vessel. When the lines within a panel are being drawn, the procedure 
is just the reverse. The bowl remains stationary while the brush is drawn across 
it. Occasionally lines which are nearly horizontal are drawn first in one direction, 
then in the other. In some cases, when long diagonal or curved lines are being 
made, the vessel is turned very slightly counterclockwise. 

Large vessels, such as ollas, remain stationary while the brush is being drawn 
across the surface, and are turned only when a new area is to be worked upon. 
Lines within panels are usually made with a single stroke of the brush, for it is 
seldom that a diagonal or curved line within a panel is more than four or five 
inches long. In large open designs the long lines, both straight and curved, are 
often drawn in two parts. Crosshatching is made by two sets of parallel lines 
crossing each other. Dotting is done with the tip of the brush touched lightly to 
the surface. Spaces are filled with a heavier brush by means of many short strokes. 
As a rule the strokes begin at the upper right hand corner of the area and proceed 
downward. In filling spaces, as in drawing lines, some women go over their work 
only once, others apply two or three coats in order to insure even distribution of the 
paint. 

Some potters exhibit much sureness of touch and confidence in their own 
ability; their designs are executed without hesitation, but at the same time slowly. 
Others make hard work of the painting, seem uncertain, and occasionally stop to 
rest and inspect the symmetry of the pattern. 

There are two general points in the painting of vessels which should be empha- 
sized. The first is the remarkable steadiness of the painter’s hand. It seems almost 
incredible that such straight, unwaving, even lines can be drawn by a hand which 
is supported only by a completely free arm, and guided merely by the end of the 
brush. The second is the fact that the men often assist in the painting of designs. 
They may either execute a complete design upon a vessel, or relieve the painter 
from time to time during the construction of large patterns. This is the only 
phase of the actual manufacture of pottery in which the men of the village take 


1 
part. 
1 On pp. 78 to 84 will be found notes on the actual painting of several typical designs. 


FIRING 


The firing of the vessels is not only the last major step in the making of pottery, 
but it is also the most critical one. The supreme test of the potter’s work is to 
subject it to the fire, for many forms of accident occur during the process, some of 
them due to careless handling of the vessels or of the firing materials, others to 
defective workmanship or to hidden flaws in the paste. It is only natural that the 
potters should exhibit considerable excitement and nervousness during the firing. 
Some women proceed calmly and methodically, and take occasional accidents as 
part of the day’s work; others are exceedingly nervous, and show exasperation when 
things go wrong. The latter, as a rule, have more accidents than the former. One 
potter, in six burnings, lost two large ollas through breakage, and had innumerable 
smoke-clouds, several of them rather severe ones. 

The firing falls naturally into four distinct phases: the preparation, the build- 
ing of the oven, the burning, and the treatment after burning. Each of these 
phases will be considered separately. 


PREPARATION 


The oven is usually situated behind the potter’s house. All that is required is a 
level space free from vegetation; no attention is paid, as a rule, to the position of the 
sun or to the direction of the prevailing wind, and the same spot is used time after 
time. If on the evening before the firing there are any signs of rain, or if a heavy 
dew is expected, the area on which the oven is to be built in the morning is covered 
with a thick layer of dead ashes to protect it from moisture. It would be a fatal 
mistake to make the oven on ground which would give off steam during the burning. 

About six o’clock the next morning a fire is started on the area over which the 
oven is to be built. While this preliminary fire is thoroughly drying the ground, 
the accessories are collected (pl. 24, a). Slabs of dung are brought out from the 
storage places; some of them are placed against the house wall to dry in the sun, 
others remain in the washtubs in which they have been carried. The material for 
the grate, and other iron bars, are placed nearby. Pokers of wood and iron, shovels, 
and sometimes pitchforks, which are to be used later in handling the burning fuel 
and hot vessels, are placed within reach. When a collection of small tin cans, 
pail-tops, and small stones saved for this purpose has been added, the workers are 
ready to begin the burning. Usually a supply of cedar kindling has been split, but 
sometimes this is done as the wood is needed. 


BUILDING THE OVEN 


When the preliminary fire has died down to a mass of coals, these are levelled 
to form an area of hot ashes about three feet in diameter. On this the oven is 
built. The surface upon which the vessels are placed must be raised a few inches 


PLATE 24 


b 


a. Drying the oven site with a preliminary fire before burning the pottery. At the lower right-hand corner 
are an old iron grate which will later support the vessels, two iron rods to hold up the roof of the oven, and a wooden 
poker. Cakes of dung for the oven walls are drying in the sun against the house. 

b. The vessels on the grate, and the oven wall of dung cakes begun. Small tin cans support the cakes and 
keep them from touching the vessels. The grate rests on stones, and split cedar kindling is placed below it on the 
embers of the preliminary fire. 


FIRING 0 


above the ground to permit the introduction of fuel below the pottery. Such a 
surface is usually formed of iron rods of one kind or another. One potter built up a 
grate of a varied assortment of iron junk supported on tin cans and odd-shaped iron 
fragments. Another potter used a worn-out stove-grate supported on four half-bricks. 

The vessels are then placed upon the grate in an inverted position. No attempt 
is made to keep them from touching one another. In fact, they are crowded to- 
gether in order that the greatest possible number may be burned at once (pl. 24, b). 
In firing red ware and polychrome ware only one layer of vessels is placed upon the 
grate. When polished black ware is to be burned, two layers may be made. The 
vessels in the second layer are always placed carefully between those of the bottom 
layer, in order that there may be free circulation of air on both the interior and 
exterior of all the vessels (pl. 25, a). As a rule the larger bowls are placed in the 
lower layer. 

The number of polychrome vessels burned at one time varies from half-a- 
dozen to twenty, according to the area of the grate and the size of the vessels. At 
one burning there were eleven pieces, eight medium-sized and three small; in 
another there were twenty, eight of which were medium-sized, and the other 
twelve very small. It is possible to burn as many as thirty-five polished black 
bowls at once. Some potters burn both polychrome and red pottery in the same 
oven; others insist that this should not be done, because red ware requires far less 
time and heat than does polychrome. 

After the pots have been placed on the grate, pieces of split cedar six to fifteen 
inches long are inserted underneath it. Pifion is never used, but the potters could 
not explain this, saying they had never tried it. A wall-like ring of dung-cakes, 
placed on edge but not set as snugly together as they might be, is then built around 
the grate (pl. 25, b). Small tin cans, held in place by the weight of the dung, are 
used to prevent the cakes from touching the vessels (pl. 24, b, shows one of these 
cans very clearly). Sometimes small stones and broken bricks are used in place of 
cans. While the ring is being completed more kindling may be added. The Zuni 
oven differs from that of San Ildefonso in being built of smaller pieces of manure 
which are laid up horizontally instead of on edge (see pl. 31, b, ¢). 

The fire may now be lighted before the oven is finished, but sometimes the 
potters wait until the roof is nearly complete. Cedar-bark shreds are generally 
used to start the fire. The lighting is done through the spaces between the dung- 
cakes, usually at more than one place, sometimes in as many as five. No attention 
is paid to the wind in this process. If the fire does not start quickly enough, cloths 
are used to fan the flames. 

The roof or vault of the oven is then built. Some potters place iron bars across 
the top of the dung-ring, keeping them from touching the vessels by inserting tin 
cans and stones. On these bars flat cakes of dung are laid, and the larger holes are 
covered with smaller pieces of dung. Other potters dispense with the bars and rest 
a large circular cake of dung upon cans and stones set in the centre of the pile of 
pottery. The space between this central cake and the top of the dung-ring is 
bridged by other cakes which rest on the dung alone. In this manner a low vault 
of dung-slabs is formed, roughly square in shape, two and a half to three feet on a 


72 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


side, and about a foot and a half high (pl. 25, ce). There are still left numerous 
spaces, both large and small, between the cakes. These are covered with smaller 
pieces of dung, and with old tin tops of lard-pails or discarded tin plates (pl. 26, a). 
Even after this, however, there remain enough small spaces to allow free circulation 
of air, and to prevent the smothering and consequent smoking of the vessels. 
Through these smaller spaces the flames and pots may be seen. The building of the 
oven is now complete; by this time the fire has usually been started, and the flames 
are well under way. 

As arule more than one burning is undertaken during a morning. ‘The building 
of the oven for the second burning differs slightly in its preliminary stages from 
that described above. After the previous oven has been destroyed, the ashes are 
smoothed out, and the grate set straight and carefully dusted so that no ashes re- 
main (pl. 26, b). The bowls are than placed on it as before. Partly burned cakes 
of dung, which remain from the first burning, are re-used. If, in placing them on the 
oven, ashes drop on the vessels, care is taken to blow them off. 

Some potters stand the vessels which are to be burned on the warm cakes of 
dung for a few minutes before placing them on the grate (pl. 2€, b), a process which 
is supposed to heat them slightly and thus prevent breakage during firing. Other 
potters would not think of doing this, for vessels treated in this manner always have 
discolored bases, where the warm dung has touched them. 

Ollas twelve to fourteen inches in diameter are burned in pairs, with a few 
smaller pieces beside them. The oven is built in the same manner as before. Very 
large ollas are usually fired one at a time; the oven, except for its greater size, is said 
to be of the usual type. 


BURNING 


As was said above, the firing of the pottery is done in the morning. The 
Indians say that they wish to get it over with “before the sun grows hot”. Their 
own personal comfort probably plays a more important part in this than does the 
effect of the sun upon the pottery. As a rule the firing is withheld until a sufficient 
number of finished vessels have accumulated to permit three or four burnings in 
one morning. The entire forenoon is spent at this work, and sometimes it drags 
over until early afternoon. The actual burning of the vessels occupies a period of 
about half-an-hour for each oven; it is said that the length of time has not been 
appreciably shortened in the past forty or fifty years. The black ware is always 
saved for the last oven, since the process employed completely precludes the possi- 
bility of rebuilding the oven at once. 

At the beginning of the burning white smoke is apt to be given off, but too 
much smoke is regarded as a bad sign, since it signifies that the dung cakes are not 
sufficiently dried. After fifteen minutes or so, that is when the process is about half 
finished, the amount of smoke has greatly diminished (pl. 26, a). About this time 
more kindling is added through openings made by temporarily removing a piece of 
tin, and new cakes of dung are added where necessary, usually on the top of the oven. 

The Indians say that they judge of the condition of the pottery in the oven by 
its color; the paste and slip must be of just the proper shade before the vessels are 


PLATE 25 


c 


The building of an oven. a. A double layer of bowls is on the grate; the woman is placing a can between a 
dung-slab and a bowl. b. The wall of dung-cakes completed. c. The oven finished, but the chinks not yet filled. 


H 
| 


PLATE 26 


a. The oven fired. The chinks between the dung-slabs have been partly closed by smaller pieces of dung. 
b. A firing completed and a grate prepared for a second firing. Two vessels to be burned are warming on hot dung- 
slabs; the pots that have just been taken from the fire are cooling in the shadow of the house. 


* 


FIRING 73 


thoroughly burned; if they are too dark the burning must continue.!_ Some potters 
seem to pay little or no attention to the color of the vessels in the oven. 

When the potter considers that the burning has been completed, the cakes of 
dung on the top of the oven are lifted off with a pair of pokers, and those in the ring 
around the grate are tipped outward. Thus the vessels on the grate are exposed, 
and their removal is begun at once. Some are tipped on shovels or hay forks; 
pokers are inserted under and into others. They are then deposited upon tins 
which have been placed on the ground within six or eight feet of the oven, and are 
left there from ten to twenty minutes to cool. The women often complain about 
the heat from the oven during the removal of the vessels. As soon as the grate has 
been cleared, preparations are begun for the next burning (pl. 26, b). 

In one instance a potter decided that a certain vessel which had been removed 
from the grate was not sufficiently burned. Another fire was already in progress, 
but when the third was built the vessel was replaced on the grate and burned again. 
When it came out, however, one side was badly overfired. 

The time occupied by various burnings is given in the following table. The 
first four columns represent burnings by Maria Martinez; the last three by Antonita 
Roybal. The seventh column records the oven in which the partly fired piece was 
reburned, and in which a cooking vessel was also placed. 


TABLE X 
(12) IS) Aye 5) (G7) 
Minutes 

Preparation and building of oven begun 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
Fire started 2 15 06 12 15 15 #409 
More kindling and dung added ADT 255 5 25 57 
Oven broken up 52) oie 36 eel ae 1 2a0 402 T, 
Last bowl removed from grate 58 41 42 47 77 °45° 30 


The time required for burning the different wares varies only slightly. Some 
potters say that red ware takes less fuel, less heat, and less time than polychrome 
ware; others place both wares in the same oven. The difference in the time required 
for these two wares is probably no greater than the chance variations in the length 
of burning as given in Table X. Cooking vessels need to be fired only from one-half 
to two-thirds as long as the two wares just mentioned (cf. Table X, column 7). 
The polished black ware will be considered later. 

The changes in color before and after firing, and when hot and cool, are very 
noticeable in some pigments and slips. The orange-red paint is yellow before 
firing, firing turns it orange-red, almost the color of burnt sienna; cooling produces 
no noticeable change in this shade. Burning has only a fugitive effect on the red 
and dark-red slips. While still hot, upon removal from the oven, these are both 
a dark chocolate shade. As the vessels cool the different reds gradually reappear, 
until when cold they are the same color as before firing. In some cases, these 
pigments seem to be just a shade darker after firing than before. The two kinds of 
white slip are a dead white when applied; after firing they take on a slight pinkish- 
brown tinge, more cream than white. Cooling produces no further change. 


1 One woman tried her best to teach me how to tell these shades apart, but it proved utterly impossible for me 
to distinguish the darker from the lighter. 


74 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


The most interesting change caused by firing is in the black vegetable pigment 
(guaco). It has already been pointed out (p. 66), that when this paint is laid on 
thickly, the line made is a little raised and glossy, like a glaze. This “body” to the 
paint is probably formed by vegetable matter in suspension in the solution. When 
the vessels with such decorations are removed from the oven after burning, these 
lines are seen to be white or grey. The material which formed the body of the 
pigment has been reduced to white ash, which adheres to the surface, but can be 
rubbed off with the finger or a cloth, while the black color itself has been burned into 
the clay. Where a thin layer of the pigment was applied, the line, after burning, is 
light grey, because the black under the thin coat of ash shows through. In those 
vessels on which a thick solution of pigment was used, the decorations are dead 
white, and the surface of the ash is often crackled. The thickness of this ash seems 
to have some effect upon the manner in which the black pigment is burned into the 
clay, for in decorations covered with a thick layer of ash, the black is of an irregular 
color with streaks of grey in it. When the thin pigment is used, the resulting black 
on the finished vessel is of a uniform shade. The glossiness and raised character of 
the pigment is of course completely destroyed during burning. Guaco lines do not 
change in shade while the vessel is cooling. 

The color of the paste is little affected by burning. In both the red and the 
white clays, the change is simply one of tone, that is, the clay is lighter after burning 
than before. The cooking-vessel clay before burning is greyish yellow, but after it 
has been removed from the oven it is a rich orange-yellow. These cooking vessels 
eventually become blackened by use over an open fire. 

Vessels destined to be polished black ware are treated in quite a different 
manner during the firing stage, for they are to be subjected to a smothered fire, 
which will result in the deposition of carbon, thus turning them from red to black. 
The oven is built in the same way, but greater care is taken to fill gaps, so that more 
of the heat may be retained. Enough spaces remain, however, to permit free circu- 
lation of air. More kindling is used, for a hotter fire is necessary. When the fire 
has reached the stage at which other wares are removed, it is smothered with new, 
pulverized, loose manure. Just before the smothering the vessels have the dark 
chocolate color typical of the red wares while hot. The potter always attempts 
to smother the entire oven at once by dumping upon it a whole washtubful of fine 
loose manure. If there is a wind, flames are apt to break out in one or two places. 
They are, however, hurriedly extinguished. When the loose manure is added, the 
arch of the oven is, of course, broken, and both cakes and loose manure come in 
contact with the vessels. For this reason the potter does not exercise particular 
care in building the oven to keep the cakes from touching the vessels, as they are to 
be entirely black in the end and a little premature smoking does no harm. After 
the manure has been added, the mound is continually prodded with a poker to 
redistribute the loose manure and make certain that all the pieces are equally 
covered. An extra supply of loose manure is at hand, and this is added in large and 
small quantities from time to time, as occasion demands. ‘Two washtubsful are 
generally used, sometimes three. The mound of manure gives off a dense white 
smoke after the smothering has begun (pl. 27, a). Great care is taken to prevent 
flames from appearing, since these would remove the carbon from the vessel. 


PLATE 27 


a. A fire smothered with loose manure to produce polished black ware. b. Wiping vessels that have become 
cool enough to handle. One woman wipes off the ashes with a dry rag, then passes them to her companion, who 
goes over them with a slightly greasy cloth. 


= ‘ 
‘ ‘ =, -" , 
» 5 : 
= ; = 
+ 
e ’ 
Ps " 
, 4 
bd . 
Es ' a 
- 
. , 
«. ; 
: . 
: 
‘ ie ‘ 
] 
. / 
. ~ ’ ! ‘ 7 
toy 
ot A 
' 
\ 


FIRING 75 


Ten or fifteen minutes after the smothering the first piece is dug out of the 
mound with the poker. It is placed a foot or two from the oven and hastily wiped 
with a dry cloth to remove all manure. The surface of the vessel is a beautiful 
shiny black color, which does not change at all on cooling. If black ware paint 
(see p. 24) has been used, it changes from the greenish-yellow color that it had 
before burning to a dead matte black which contrasts very effectively with the 
polished surface of the vessel (see pl. 8, a). At first the vessels come from the 
smoking mound slowly, and all holes left in the pile by the removal of vessels are 
carefully filled again, but later they are taken out as quickly as possible, and toward 
the end no attempt is made to keep the pieces still in the pile thoroughly covered. 
If, when a vessel is removed, its condition does not quite suit the potter, it is 
replaced in the smoking manure and completely covered. 

Certain polished black vessels are further manipulated in such a way as to 
produce an irregular red blotch upon them! Specimens destined to receive this red 
blotch, which is usually placed near the rim, are reburied in the hot manure lying 
round the edge of the pile with that portion which is to have the blotch left un- 
covered. Against this exposed portion is placed a smoking fragment of a dung- 
slab. The action of the heat and air results in the removal of the carbon from the 
surface, so that that part of the vessel which is not covered with manure and ashes 
regains its former color, the red of the pigment. Since the pot is pushed about a 
good deal during this process, the line between the red and the black surface is not 
always very definite, which improves the appearance. The Indians themselves 
cannot tell beforehand just what shape the blotch is going to take, and must there- 
fore watch the vessel continually. Sometimes burning shreds of cedar bark are 
placed against the exposed surface to hasten the process, but actual flames are not 
necessary in order to obtain the desired result. If the red blotch is too large, part of 
it is simply recovered with hot manure-ashes, and a few minutes later will again 
become jet black. So far as looks are concerned the success or failure of this red 
blotch upon black ware depends largely upon the artistic sense of the potter making 
it. In one group of thirty-three polished black vessels fired together, sixteen were 
given a red blotch; eight or ten of these were excellent pieces. 

The time consumed in burning polished black ware is shown in Table XI. It 
should be noted that before the loose manure was added, the vessels were sub- 
jected to the fire about the same length of time as those of other wares. 


TABLE XI 

Minutes 
Preparation and building of oven begun 00 00 
Fire started 16 $18 
More fuel added Al 39 
Oven smothered with loose manure 46 45 
First bowl removed 59 59 
Last bowl removed 74 99 


1 This variant in polished black ware is a new departure. It was discovered, probably accidentally, by one of 
the San Ildefonso potters early in the summer of 1921. The process by which the red blotch is made has not as yet 
been brought completely under control. 


76 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


ACCIDENTS 


The accidents which may occur in firing are of two general classes—those which 
result from faulty treatment during the construction of the vessel itself and those 
which are due to careless manipulation in burning. The latter are the more frequent. 

A vessel may crack or flake badly in the oven; often the entire base breaks off. 
The fault in this case lies in the original moulding, because small stone fragments or 
air-bubbles were allowed to remain embedded in the paste. Since the rate of 
expansion under heat varies for different substances, a great strain develops about 
such stones or air-bubbles during firing, and the natural result is cracking or flaking 
of the clay. In some larger vessels the slip flakes away around the shoulder, where 
the two areas of the surface met when the polishing was done (see p. 64). In the 
potter’s opinion these flakes, which are exceedingly small, are probably caused by 
minute air-bubbles that had lodged under the slip while the line about the shoulder 
was being polished. A third type of accident is merely a blemish; it is due to flies 
settling on a vessel before burning; the resulting fly-specks are burned into the clay, 
and the surface of the pot is sprinkled with dots quite as black as guaco decorations. 

The most common form of blemish caused by careless manipulation during 
firing is the “‘smoke-cloud” or “fire-cloud”’, a circular blackened area, the darkest 
part of which is at the centre. There is no question but that this is caused by con- 
tact between the vessel and a dung-cake, and the result is probably due to moisture 
in the dung which brings about a deposit of carbon on the surface. If, during the 
burning, a cake of dung falls, it will probably come in contact with the surface of 
some bowl. If it is removed at once there is little danger of a smoke-cloud, and the 
potter, when she notices such an accident, immediately tries to secure the fallen 
cake with two pokers. With much skill she carefully extricates it from within the 
oven without disturbing the other cakes about the place from which it fell. Fire- 
clouds may be produced upon the bases of vessels by setting them on hot cakes of 
dung before firing; or upon damp, or relatively damp, ground immediately after 
firing. Excessive dampness, such as steam from wet ground under the oven, may 
in addition to discoloration, produce warping of the vessels. Another sort of blem- 
ish is occasionally caused by rust from a tin can resting upon a vessel during firing; 
such a spot is usually reddish brown in color, and covers a very small area. 

If light areas appear on polished black ware, it is safe to assume that they 
were brought about by lack of proper ventilation within the oven during the pre- 
liminary burning, such as would occur if two vessels were so close together as to 
prohibit the free passage of air. If white slip is touched just before burning, the oil 
from the fingers is apt to be fired in, thus ruining the uniform appearance of the 
surface by the potter’s indelible fingerprint. To avoid such an accident, poly- 
chrome vessels are usually handled only by the interior of the rim on the day they 
are burned. 

Underfiring and overfiring, with consequent damage to the ware, are usually 
due to gross carelessness on the part of the potter in the irregular placing of kindling. 
The wind also has something to do with it. If there is a stiff breeze blowing, the 
probabilities are that the windward surfaces of vessels within the oven will be 
underfired, while those in the lee of the vessels will be overfired. 


PLATE 28 


Courtesy Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 


ZUNI. PREPARING CLAY 


a. Pulverizing dry ingredients on flat stone slab with a mano or hand stone. 
b. Wetting, mixing, and kneading clay; water-container in foreground; prepared clay in bowl. 


PLATE 29 


tigen panei? 
_asgpoine 


Courtesy Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 


ZUNI. MOULDING 


a. Lower part of vessel completed; potter forming roll of clay with which to continue building. 
b. Applying roll of clay; left hand guides roll; right hand welds it to side of vessel. 


PLATE 30 


Ceourtesy Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 


b 


ZUNI. SURFACING 


a. Going over outside of vessel with moulding tool to smooth out irregularities. 
b. Vessel has been removed from base-mould and covered with white slip from bowl in foreground. Potter 
now polishing slip with rubbing stone. 


PLATE 31 


b c 


ZUNI. PAINTING AND FIRING 


a. Applying design with yucca-leaf brush. Black pigment in shallow stone mortar, red in small white bowl. 
b. Building oven of dung cakes — note kindling at feet of figure at right. c. Oven domed over and set afire. 
(Photographs from American Museum of Natural History). 


one 


FIRING 717 


In underfired vessels the color of the pigments is not true, being usually mid- 
way between the unfired color and the fired color; as a rule the paste is also dark and 
friable. Overfiring is more easily detected than underfiring. A slight overfiring 
may be first noticed in the black guaco paint, which has a tendency to become 
bluish and light if burned too much. Other bad results follow in quick succession as 
overfiring is increased: at an early stage the white slip becomes smoky; in severe 
overfiring it may turn black, as in a smoke-cloud; the paint of the designs is apt 
to flake off; and finally, in a bad case, the guaco will turn nearly white. 


TREATMENT AFTER BURNING 


Polished black vessels, when removed from the fire, are set directly upon the 
ground within a foot or two of the oven. They are at once wiped hastily with a dry 
cloth to prevent any fragments of the new manure from sticking to the surface. 
When the vessels are sufficiently cooled they are again wiped with a clean dry cloth 
and taken into the house for storage. Occasionally the first wiping, while the bowl 
is still hot, is omitted. 

When pieces of polychrome ware or red ware are removed from the oven they 
are placed on the ground some six or eight feet from the fire, resting on tins in order 
to prevent possible discoloration from contact with the damp soil, as well as to 
prevent dust and dirt from sticking to their bases. The vessels are piled on these 
tins in any manner, often three or four on top of one another. When the pottery 
first comes from the fire, it is still much too hot to touch, and radiates heat copiously. 
Ten or fifteen minutes later, when the vessels are cool enough to handle, they are 
removed from the tins and collected at some convenient place to await wiping. 

First the pieces are gone over with a clean dry cloth to take off the guaco ashes 
and any dust that may remain from the oven (pl. 27, b). Each vessel is then wiped 
with a slightly greasy cloth, which gives a faint sheen to the surface and removes the 
blue tinge which is apt to be found in the black guaco-covered areas. Some potters 
have substituted a chamois skin for this second cloth. It took the two women 
shown in pl. 27, b, just fifteen minutes to wipe with the two kinds of cloths the 
twenty-two vessels figured. When the wiping is done, the pottery is carried to the 
house and stored in one of the rooms. The pieces are placed on the floor, usually with 
a carpet or rug under them, and covered with a sheet to keep off dust and flies. 

The time occupied in each of the individual stages of pottery making has been 
considered, but the total time, from the beginning of the moulding until the finished 
vessels are placed in the store room under a sheet, is far in excess of the mere sum 
of the separate hours and minutes used in each process. Household duties and 
other tasks are constantly interfering with the work. About nine o’clock on a 
certain morning one potter began moulding the first of a group of perhaps forty 
pieces. The scraping was commenced on the morning of the third day, and the 
polishing on the fourth morning. Nothing was done on the fifth day, but early on 
the sixth the painting began. A fiesta interrupted the work for two more days, and 
the burning was done on the morning of the tenth day, although it could have taken 
place on the seventh. Another potter finished burning several large ollas at noon 
on the ninth day. 


PAINTING OF DESIGNS 


By means of the decorations on the vessels the potter expresses her person- 
ality. The type of design used by any one potter is very constant, and is distinctly 
individual. It is a comparatively easy matter, by an inspection of the design alone, 
to distinguish the vessels made by one potter from those of another. 

The designs are planned in several different ways. Maria Martinez sits with 
the bowl in her hands for a few minutes doing nothing; apparently she is working 
out in her mind the combination of elements which she will use. Designs so con- 
ceived are generally simple. Maximiliana Martinez begins painting almost at 
once. While she is working ideas occur to her and are incorporated. Occasionally, 
after the painting has been completed and the vessel set aside, she will pick it up 
again to add some detail. This method of working is apt to cause somewhat 
involved figures. Antonita Roybal, in choosing her designs, refers to drawings of her 
own, or to photographs which have come into her hands, of old San Ildefonso 
vessels. This potter uses a pencil to outline very sketchily the design upon the 
vessel, as an aid in obtaining the proper symmetry. The figures obtained in this 
manner are usually very elaborate. 1 

The first lines drawn in a design are almost without exception the enclosing 
lines under the rim. These are followed by the enclosing lines near the shoulder (in 
the case of an olla), or near the bottom of the interior (in the case of a bowl). When 
the design consists of panels, the vertical division-lines are then added. If there 
are to be four panels, one division-line is drawn, and then the one on the opposite 
side of the bowl, dividing the surface into halves. Each of these halves is then 
bisected. The next step is to double all the vertical division-lines. Occasionally 
each quadrant is judged by the eye only, and the division lines are drawn in 
sequence about the vessel. When there are to be either more or less than four 
panels, they are outlined one after the other. No measuring instrument of any 
kind is used. 

After the skeleton of the design has been completed, the outlines of the figure 
within each panel are drawn. All the lines are first placed in one panel, then the 
second panel is finished, and so on, until all have been filled with the outlines. All 
the areas on the vessel that are to be colored black are then filled, followed by the 
areas which are to be red. The strokes taken in outlining are not always made in 
the same order in the various panels. Such variation is entirely natural and should 
be expected in work done without the use of a visible pattern. 

When a design is attached to the lower enclosing line of a panel, it usually con- 
sists of a repetition of some small figure of one or two elements. The position of — 
such added figures has absolutely no relation in the mind of the potter to the 
panel-design. 


1 It is interesting to note that in making the preliminary pencil draft, she uses entirely different strokes from - 
those made by the brush. 


PAINTING OF DESIGNS 79 


When a design consists of a repetition of figures not enclosed within panels, 
the painter always refers, before adding another figure, to the amount of the surface 
as yet unfilled. The correctness of the painter’s judgment is therefore easily 
determined by the proportions of the last figure in the design as compared with the 
remaining figures. As a rule, with the product of the present-day potters of San 
Ildefonso, it is exceedingly difficult to determine in a finished vessel, which of the 
figures was the last one drawn. 

In designs which consist of a single figure, or of two or more figures, with several 
complex elements, the development of the design upon the vessel is necessarily at 
variance with that described above. As a general rule, each element is completed, 
including the filling of areas, before the next element is outlined. Similarly, each 
figure is finished before the next is begun. 

In considering generally the ornamentation of San Ildefonso vessels, a distinct 
group-similarity can be observed. The polychrome vessels are painted in black 
and orange-red upon a white base. The red-ware vessels are decorated only in 
black. The designs usually consist of several almost identical figures, each com- 
posed of a small number of rather simple elements, in which curved lines are com- 
mon. And yet, in spite of this almost indefinable similarity among the vessels, the 
differences between the designs made by different potters of the village are clear-cut 
and distinct. 

Maria Martinez specializes in constricted-mouthed and similarly shaped bowls 
of polychrome ware. Her lines are relatively narrow, and the black of the design 
is very uniform in color. She uses panelled designs almost exclusively. The ele- 
ments within the panels are simple, and few in number. Her work is easily recog- 
nized because of its simplicity and pleasing composition (see pl. 6). Maximiliana 
Martinez generally confines herself to red ware in the form of small ollas and small 
bowls with a slightly constricted lip. Her lines are somewhat wider and more uneven 
than those of Maria, and the black is of varying shades. As a result of her custom of 
developing the design as the work progresses, the figures are rather complex and 
intricate, or, as the Indians themselves say, ““mixed up”. The outstanding char- 
acteristic of her work is the use of one or more elements entirely detached from the 
figure proper. Antonita Roybal devotes most of her time to making large ollas of 
red ware. Her lines are relatively broad, often indeed of double width. Her blacks 
are also uneven. The designs upon her vessels are usually composed of two or four 
very large, complex figures, in which spiral curves are conspicuous. Dotting, 
crosshatching, and filling of many small areas characterize her work. The prod- 
ucts of a man painter, Julian Martinez, are easily recognized by the abundant use 
of very narrow lines. The figures, which are usually composed of many intricate 
elements, impress one with the amount of detailed and careful work lavished upon 
them. Julian has obviously been strongly influenced by the technique of modern 
Hopi potters, such as the famous Nampeo, whose work he of course often sees in 
the curio-stores and in the State Museum at Santa Fe. 

In the following pages typical designs of Maria, Maximiliana, and Antonita are 
discussed in detail, with the aid of figures upon which the direction and order of the 
strokes have been indicated. These drawings are given in order to amplify and 
clarify the general statements made above. 


80 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


Drawine No. 1 (fig. 9); original by Maria Martinez. This design was on a 
constricted-mouthed polychrome bowl, and consisted of four identical panels, each 
four and one-half inches long by two and one-half inches wide. The work was 
divided into four distinct sections, or stages, each of which was completed in all four 
panels, one after the other, before the next stage was begun. 

First stage (fig. 9, a); construction of the framing lines. Lines 1-4 are drawn 
completely around the bowl; then lines 5-8. The corresponding two pairs of lines 
are then drawn upon the other half of the bowl, thus dividing the space into four 
sections. 

Second stage (fig. 9, b); placing of the outlines within each panel. The first 
three lines drawn (9-11) divide the panel into three triangles. Then the details are 


Fic. 9. The growth of a polychrome design as painted by Maria Martinez (the shading indicates red). 


outlined in each triangle in turn. When the outlining of one panel has been com- 
pleted, each of the other panels is treated in turn in the same manner. The work of 
Maria is noteworthy in that the order and direction of the lines and the filling of 
spaces is hardly ever changed from one panel to the next. 

Third stage (fig. 9, c); filling certain areas with solid black paint. The largest 
area (1) is always filled first. No order is followed in filling areas H, II, and IV, 
and in making the dot (V). In one panel, IV is filled before II, in another V pre- 
cedes the other three. After this the dots (VI) are placed below line 21. In the 
different panels the number of these dots varies from six to eight. The last area 
filled in this stage is the triangle VII. When the first panel has been completed the 
other three are treated in like manner before the fourth stage is begun. 

Fourth stage (fig. 9, d); filling of areas with red paint (shown in the reproduction 
by shading). In some panels area VIII precedes area IX, in others the reverse is the 


o& ALV Id 


PAINTING OF DESIGNS 81 


case. With the completion of this fourth stage in all the panels, the painting of this 
comparatively simple design is finished. The time consumed was twenty-five 
minutes. 

Drawine No. 2 (pl. 32); original by Maria Martinez. This design may be 
placed upon either a constricted-mouthed bowl or an olla-bowl. It is made up of 
five identical panels. During the painting the bowl is turned counterclockwise. 
There are eleven distinct stages. 

First stage (pl. 32, a); the enclosing lines of the panels are produced. Each 
panel is four inches long and one and a half inches wide. The horizontal lines 
(1-4) are drawn completely around the bowl before the dividing lines (5-8) are drawn. 

Second stage (pl. 32, b); lines 9 and 10 are drawn, dividing each of the five 
panels into a semicircle and two triangles. 

Third stage (pl. 32, c); the plumes are outlined in each of the panels by means of 
lines 11 to 20. 

Fourth stage (pl. 32, d); the two triangles (areas I and II) are filled with black 
pigment. Sometimes area I is filled first, sometimes area II. 

Fifth stage (pl. 32, e); when the triangles in all five panels have been filled, the 
dots are placed in two of the five plumes in each panel (areas III and IV). These 
dots are sometimes six in number, sometimes seven. They are painted from the 
base of the plume upwards. 

Sixth stage (p. 32, b); areas V to VII are filled with red pigment, thus com- 
pleting the panel-design. 

Seventh stage (pl. 32, g); now that the design in the panel has been finished, the 
second half of the figure, that below the bottom enclosing line, is begun. A series of 
small semicircles (lines numbered 21) are appended to the lowest enclosing line. 
The position of the semicircles bears no relation whatever to the series of panels. 
Three and a half to four semicircles fall below each panel or a total of from seventeen 
to twenty in the entire extent of the design as it encircles the vessel. 

Eighth stage (pl. 32, g); by means of lines 22 and 23, a triangle is outlined below 
each of the semicircles. 

Ninth stage (pl. 32, h); a very small semicircle (24) is drawn just below the 
point of each triangle. 

Tenth stage (pl. 32, h); another similar semicircle (line 25) is drawn just below 
line 24. 

Eleventh stage (pl. 32, i); the triangles (areas numbered VIII) are filled with 
black pigment. 

Although this figure is based upon the panel-design, it differs from pure panel- 
decoration in the use of a series of simple figures appended to the bottom enclosing- 
line of the panel. The time required to paint this design was thirty-five minutes. 

Drawine No. 3 (pl. 33); original by Maria Martinez. This design is of an 
entirely different type, in that there is no use of a panel. It was placed upon a con- 
stricted-mouthed bowl. 

First stage (pl. 33, a); the enclosing lines (1, 2) are drawn around the rim of the 
vessel. These are immediately followed by the three lines (3 to 5) which form the 
outlines of the five spirals composing the design. The proportions of the figures were 


82 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


determined by constantly watching the position of the first spiral as the bowl was 
turned counterclockwise. 

Second stage (pl. 33, b); the outlines of the details (lines 6 to 17 ) are drawn on 
each spiral in turn. 

Third stage (pl. 33, c); the outlining is completed by adding to each spiral a 
horizontal triangle at the base of the curve. It is interesting to note that line 18, 
the first of the group 18 to 21, was the first one drawn, although it was entirely de- 
tached at that time from the main figure. 

Fourth stage (pl. 33, d); the filling of areas is begun by painting the four small 
triangles on the upward curve of the spiral (areas I toIV). The order in which they 
are filled is apt to vary with the different spirals. 

Fifth stage (pl. 33, e); the large triangle at the base of the spiral (area V) is 
filled with black pigment. 

Sixth stage (pl. 33, f); the triangle at the bottom (area VI) is filled in 
each unit. 

Seventh stage (pl. 33, g); this consists in placing a series of dots along the median 
line of the leaf-shaped area in the base of the spiral. In the various spirals these 
dots vary in number from eight to ten. 

Eighth stage (pl. 33, h); the design is completed by filling the red areas (VIII and 
IX). In the first spiral so treated, area VIII was filled first, but in all the others 
area IX preceded area VIII. 

The base of each spiral is four and one-half inches long. The width of the 
design is three inches. 

Drawinc No. 4 (pl. 34); original by Maximiliana Martinez. This rosette was 
placed in the interior bottom of a small constricted-mouthed bowl of red ware. 
A cloud-design which was painted on the rim of the same bowl is described and 
illustrated in fig. 6. 

First stage (pl. 34, a); the outlines of one set of four leaves are drawn (lines 
1-8). 
Second stage (pl. 34, b); the areas within these enclosing lines are hatched 
(areas I-IV). These four areas are filled in clockwise rotation. 

Third stage (pl. 34, c); the same areas (numbered V-VIITI) are crosshatched, 
starting at the tip of each area and working towards the centre. 

Fourth stage (pl. 34, d); four more leaves are drawn between the four already 
made. After lines 9 and 10 are drawn, the area between them is filled with black 
pigment, leaving an oblique white bar, before lines 11 and 12 are placed upon the 
vessel. Each of the four leaves is entirely completed before the next is begun. 

Fifth stage (pl. 34, e); this consists in the placing of four lines (17-20) at the end 
of each of the four longer leaves. These four groups of lines are drawn upon the 
design in clockwise rotation. 

Sixth stage (pl. 34, f); at this point Maximiliana glanced at the drawing which 
the writer was making in his notes. By accident the ends of the shorter leaves had 
there been made more pointed than the actual painting. When she saw this, she 
pointed the tips of these leaves with black to make them correspond in shape to the 
writer’s drawing. 


PLATE 33 


a. 


X 


A 


Design by Maria Martinez 


PLATE 34 


Design by Maximiliana Martinez 


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PAINTING OF DESIGNS 83 


This is an excellent example of the type of work done by a painter who develops 
her pattern while drawing it. The contrast between this and the simple strength of 
the first three designs (fig. 9 and pls. 32, 33) should be noticed. 

Drawine No. 5 (fig. 10); original by Maximiliana Martinez. This is a border 
decoration that was applied to the edge of the constricted-mouthed bowl on which 
was produced Drawing No. 4. 

First stage (fig. 10, a); this is the drawing of the two enclosing lines (1 and 2) 
about the lip of the bowl. These are followed at once by 3 to 5, which outline three 
small semicircles. Eight of these triple semicircles complete the circumference of 
the bowl. 

Second stage (fig. 10, b); the three semicircles are filled with dots of pigment, 
two in each of the upper ones, three in the lower. 

Third stage (fig. 10, c); the three small lines are added to the lowest of the three 
semicircles. 

The painting of the rosette (pl. 34) and the eight sets of semicircles took just 
sixteen minutes. 

Drawine No. 6 (pl. 35); original by Antonita Roybal. This elaborate decora- 
tion was placed upon a large red ware olla. Antonita, it may be noted, specializes 


a b 


Fie. 10. Raincloud design by Maximiliana Martinez 


in vessels of his sort, and her designs, while not slavishly repeated, all have a strong 
family resemblance, due to her bold use of scrolls and step-figures. The small upper 
drawing illustrates the method by which the design under consideration is applied 
to the vessel. In the larger one it is projected flat; the centre circle represents the 
mouth of the olla. The time taken for painting the various parts of the pattern is 
incorporated in the description; the total time at the end of each stage being given 
immediately thereafter. 

Framework lines. The heavy double-width line forming the middle of the 
central square is drawn first. Then two narrower lines are drawn, one inside and 
one outside, thus completing the square (sixteen minutes; 00:00-16:00). 

The two lines encircling the mouth of the olla are next produced (four minutes; 
16 :00-20:00). 

Neck-design within the square. Each of the four corners of the square is orna- 
mented with a small scroll-ended element. Each element is first outlined and then 
filled with black before the next is begun (twelve and one-half minutes; 20:30-32:00). 

Small irregularly placed spots are then dotted into the remaining surface 
within the square (six minutes; 33:00-39:00). 

The medallions. Appended to each of the four corners of the original square is 
a flower-like medallion. The drawing of each is done as follows. The outer line is 


84 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


first traced, then the inner one. Next the inner part is filled with black, except for a 
narrow band across the middle. To the exterior ring are added the outlines of the 
nine radiating elements. As a last step these are filled with black. The olla is then 
turned counterclockwise and the next medallion is begun. 

Each medallion is completed more quickly than the last. The time: No. 1, 
ten minutes (39 :00-49:00); No. 2, eight minutes (49:00-57:00) ; No. 3, seven and one- 
half minutes (57 :00-64:30); No. 4, six and one-half minutes (64:30-71 :00). 

The side patterns. Each of the four sides of the square bears a design composed 
of two scrolls with a double stepped element and two long appendages between 
them. Each design is completed before the next is begun. The drawing proceeds as 
follows: 

1. The outlining of the scrolls and the drawing of the crossbar between them. 

2. The outlining of the central stepped figures. 

3. The filling of the stepped figures with black. 

4, The outlining of the two long appendages between the scrolls. 

5. The filling of the appendages with black, leaving two narrow crossbars in 
the ground color. 

6. The addition of the two small appendages between the stepped figures. 

7. The outlining of a central streak ending in a small circle in each of the 
scrolls. 

8. The filling of the scrolls with black, leaving the central streak and small 
circle in the ground color. 

As in the case of the medallions, each one of the side patterns is completed 
more quickly than the last. The time: No. 1, twenty-six minutes (71:00-97 :00) ; 
No. 2, twenty-two and a half minutes (97 :00-119:30); No. 3, twenty-one and a 
half minutes (119:30-141:00); No. 4, fourteen and a half minutes (141:00-155 :30). 
The entire time required for painting the design was thus two hours, thirty-five 
minutes, and thirty seconds. 


PLATE 35 


Black design on red jar by Antonita Roybal (the small drawing above shows how this design is applied 
to the olla). 


SYMBOLISM! 


Symbolism of one kind or another, plays a very important part in the existence 
of the Pueblo Indian. It is generally agreed that even the minor acts of everyday 
life have a certain religious symbolic meaning. For example, the gourd spoons, or 
kajepes, used in moulding pottery, must apparently be consecrated before they may 
be used. Similarly, a new technique in pottery making must pass through a period 
of consecration before it becomes completely established. On the other hand, white 
men often overemphasize the importance of symbolism in studying any civilization 
whose customs and philosophy differ radically from their own. 

In the light of what is known of the mental attitude of the Pueblo Indian, it 
would not be unreasonable to assume that the designs on their pottery have some 
symbolical meaning. Whether this symbolism is in any sense religious, or is merely 
the symbolism of conventionalization of design, is an open question.? It is probable 
that vessels made before the time when pottery became to some extent an article 
of commerce between the Indian and the tourist, bore designs of symbolical mean- 
ing. It may be that the vessels made today for their own use also have such mean- 
ings, but there is every reason to believe that much of the ware now turned out by 
the San Ildefonso potters for sale to tourists bears designs of no special meaning. 

It is true that through bitter experience, the Indians have learned to guard 
carefully their religious and secular philosophy, and it would require many years of 
study, living with them, to gain an intimate knowledge of their beliefs. If, however, 
there are definite meanings associated with the designs upon commercial pottery, 
the inhabitants of San Ildefonso have become past masters of the art of conceal- 
ment. 

An attempt to obtain some idea of the general reason why vessels are decorated 
and of what was taking place in the mind of the painter while at work, proved 
wholly fruitless. Inquiries as to the meaning of whole designs, figures, and ele- 
ments met with three kinds of response. One family, who have enjoyed consider- 
able contact with investigators of Indian customs, were ready and eager with ex- 
planations of the meanings of various elements. They could not, however, explain 
the meaning of the entire design upon any vessel. Other potters met the inquiry 
with a frank statement of ignorance, such as “I don’t know’’, or “Ask the men, 
the women don’t know”. A third group exhibited great uncertainty. These people 
would usually translate the questions into Tewa for the benefit of the rest of the 
Indians present. Then, after much laughter and discussion, the potter would 


1 The subject of symbolism is touched upon in this report only with the greatest diffidence. No two students 
of Southwestern ceramics seem to entertain the same theory, in all details, upon this subject. The statements 
made here are given for what they may be worth. The time devoted to the work did not permit of a careful and 
exhaustive study of the subject. 

2 One potter, after glancing at a small vessel which was undoubtedly old, informed the writer that it had once 
belonged to the “summer people”, a social-religious division of the community. 


86 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


sometimes offer a meaning, at other times say nothing. One old man explained 
with great gusto that the design which he had just finished upon a small globular 
olla represented four small clouds sailing across the sky, one behind the other, from 
west to east. His manner was very similar to that which one of us might adopt in 
telling an improbable yarn to a particularly guileless listener. 

Some potters gave meanings for whole figures. Another potter, however, 
composed her figures as the work advanced, evidently with no clear idea, when she 
began it, of the ultimate form of the figures and therefore probably with no idea in 
regard to their meaning. It has been suggested that minor variation in similar 
figures on the same vessel have some meaning. The more probable explanation 
would seem to be that these variations are due to the lack of a visible pattern. At 
one time a potter was distinctly annoyed because she noticed, after completing a 
figure, that she had filled the wrong part of a small detail. 

It is equally fallacious to lay too great importance upon alternating figures in a 
panel design. For example, one potter in filling the areas in a four-panel decora- 
tion filled the same areas in the first and third panels, and different areas in the 
second. When she began to fill the areas of the fourth panel in the same way as the 
first and third, her attention was called to the areas in the second, the order of 
which she obviously considered a mistake. The result was that the fourth panel 
was filled as the second had been, thus giving the vessel a panel-design with alter- 
nating figures. 

The fact that in excavations no two vessels have ever been found with identical 
designs has been attributed to something in the Indian’s way of thinking. Yet one 
potter at San Ildefonso placed upon one constricted-mouthed bowl out of a group of 
vessels a design identical with that on a bowl of the same shape in the previous 
group made. 

Among older pots the “line-break’’, a small space left in the horizontal en- 
closing-line at the lip of the vessel, is a constant element. At San Ildefonso its use 
has become almost obsolete but one of the informants did employ it. Careful 
questioning on the subject with another potter as interpreter, brought out the fact 
that the line-break is called a “door’’, through which a spirit may enter or depart. 
Persistent questioning in regard to the nature of the spirit caused an animated 
discussion among those present. The potter was clearly puzzled by the questions. 
Then, after a single sentence by her, the Indians all laughed heartily. Finally, 
the interpreter stated that the potter had said, in effect, that if the door was going 
to cause all that trouble she would close it. The matter was finally settled by the 
interpreter, who pointed out a passage in the advertising pamphlet of a Santa Fe 
curio-dealer which explained that the line-break was a passage through which the 
spirits of the dead might pass. 

The ready answers given by some potters in response to inquiries as to the 
meaning of elements of a design, seem to show that the elements are actually 
conventionalized symbols of definite objects. In one instance the potter, on 
noticing a dance-costume lying on the bed, pointed out certain parts of it, and 
then drew the elements representing those parts. Other potters simply deny all 
knowledge of the meaning of elements. Still others by their hesitancy, seem to 


SYMBOLISM 87 


grope for a plausible meaning and offer the first which occurs to them. Whether the 
elements do represent definite objects or not, it nevertheless remains a fact that the 
meanings given cause apparent contradictions. ‘To elements essentially the same 
widely different meanings are often given and, conversely, the same idea or object 


Fic. 11. Elements of design commonly used by the potters of San Ildefonso. 


is often represented by entirely different elements. This is also true of more com- 
plex figures. 

The elements illustrated in figure 11, give examples of the type of idea or object 
said to be represented, and incidentally illustrate some of the contradictions 
spoken of above. Numbers 1 and 6 both refer to hills. On the other hand, No. 7 


88 PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING 


is a mountain, although it bears little resemblance to the “hills”. It resembles 
more closely No. 2 which one informant described as a pueblo and another as a kiva. 
The same regular zigzag appears in No. 12, which represents a tablita, or dance 
mask, with small feathers tied to the points of the zigzags. No. 17, in which the 
zigzag also appears, represents kiva-steps. Nos. 11 and 16 represent feathers, and 
No. 21 is a bunch of feathers on the end of a dance-pole. But No. 22 represents the 
poles of the kiva-ladder, and No. 3 is rain, which is falling a long way off. No. 10 
represents fringed woolen armlets, and yet there is as close a resemblance between 
Nos. 3 and 10, as there is between Nos. 14 and 19, both of which represent the 
tassels on a man’s dance-belt. No. 8 is called rain-water, but a single spiral, as in 
No. 25, is a buffalo horn. The dots of No. 13 represent rain-drops in dust, but in 
No. 21 the dots are markings on feathers, and in No. 15 they represent a procession 
of bugs on the rib of a leaf. No. 18 represents water dripping through a hole in the 
roof and making a small cuplike depression in the floor, represented by a semicircle, 
or a whole circle with a dot in the centre of it; but No. 23, which is also a triangle, 
is called a leaf, as is also the case with No. 15. And yet No. 4 is also a leaf, although 
if placed horizontally it more closely resembles the clouds represented in No. 5. 
But No. 9 is also a cloud, this time a big black cloud with an open space in it through 
which a small cloud may be seen. Nos. 20 and 24 represent respectively the sun 
and a star. 

In the light of the small amount of material obtained on the subject of sym- 
bolism, all that can be said is that the evidence is purely negative. If the elements 
do represent definite ideas and objects, which seems to the writer improbable, the 
meanings are so deeply hidden that only an intensive specialized study will result 
in an acceptable solution. 


MEANING OF ELEMENTS 
(M.— Maria. A.— Antonita) 


1] —“‘hillside’’, M. 14 —‘“‘tassel on man’s dance-belt”’, M. 

2 —“pueblo”, M.; “kiva’’, A. 15 —“‘leaf with bugs on it”’, M. 

3 —“rain falling far away”’, A. 16 —‘‘feather’’, M. 

4 —“‘leaf”, M. 17 —‘‘kiva-steps, the two small points fire- 
5 —“‘clouds’’,, M.; A. places’’, A. 

6 —“hill”, M. 18 —‘“‘water dripping through holes in roof 
7 —‘mountain”’, M. and making holes in dirt floor’, M. 
8 —“‘rainwater’’, A. 19 —‘“‘tassel on man’s dance-belt”’, M. 


9 —“black cloud with open space through 20 —“sun”’, A. 
which one can see a small cloud”, A. 21 —“‘feathers on dance-pole, spots aremark- 


10 —“‘fringed woolen dance armlets”, M. ings on feathers”’, M. 
11 —“‘feather’’, M. 22 —‘‘ladder-poles”’, A. 
12 —“tableta (wooden headdress) with 23 —“‘leaf”, M. 

feathers on points’’, M. 24 —“star’’, A. 


13 —“‘rain-drops on dust”’, A. 25 —‘‘buffalo horn”’, A. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Binns, C. F. 
1910. ‘The potter’s craft. New York, 1910. 


HarRINGTON, J. P. 
1916. The ethnogeography of the Tewa Indians. Twenty-ninth Report of the Bureau 
of American Ethnology. Washington, 1916. 


1916, a. Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians (In collaboration with W. W. Robbins and 
B. Friere-Marreco). Bulletin 55, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, 
1916. 


Hotes, W. H 


1886. Pottery of the ancient Pueblos. Fourth Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
pp. 257-360. Washington, 1886. 


Kipper, A. V. 


1924. An introduction to the study of Southwestern archaeology, with a preliminary 
account of the excavations at Pecos. Papers of the Phillips Academy South- 
western Expedition, no. 1. New Haven, 1924. 


Kipper, M. A. and A. V. 


1917. | Notes on the pottery of Pecos. American Anthropologist, n.s., vol. 19, no. 3, 
pp. 325-360. Lancaster, 1917. 


STEVENSON, J. 
1883. Illustrated catalogue of the collections obtained from the Indians of New 
Mexico and Arizona in 1879. Second Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 
307-465. Washington, 1883. 
1884. Illustrated catalogue of the collections obtained from the pueblos of Zufii, New 
Mexico, and Wolpi, Arizona, in 1881. Third Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
pp. 511-594. Washington, 1884. 


STEVENSON, M. C. 
1904. The Zufii Indians, their mythology, esoteric fraternities, and ceremonies. 
Twenty-third Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, 1904. 


1915. Ethnobotany of the Zufii Indians. Thirtieth Report of the Bureau of American 
Ethnology, pp. 31-102. Washington, 1915. 


Wooron, E. O. AND STANDLEY, Paut C. 
1915. Flora of New Mexico. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, 
Vol. 19. Washington 1915. 


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